MUMBAI: Seven years after the 2005 deluge, the BMC has made little progress in implementation of the fact-finding Chitale Committee's recommendations on augmenting pumping stations and water-holding capacity of drains. Experts told TOI that till all the eight pumping stations proposed under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Storm Water Drain (Brimstowad) project are complete, Mumbai will continue to flood.

Of the eight, only two pumping stations are operational till date. Work on two others is far from complete and on four others is yet to even begin.

The two operational pumping stations at Irla and Haji Ali proved less than adequate when heavy rains started lashing the city on Monday. Milan and Andheri subways and some Juhu areas, which fall within the radius of the Irla pumping station, were flooded with knee-deep waters.

Work on the pumping stations at Love Grove in Worli and Cleaveland Bunder in Reay Road has started but it only 20% and 25% complete, respectively. Work on four other pumping stations at the Britannia outfall in Reay Road, Mahul , Guzderband in Khar and Mogra in Andheri is yet to start.

"Pumping stations were proposed to give relief to low-lying areas from flooding, but the civic body's sluggish pace of implementing the committee recommendations is definitely the reason why the city floods every time it rains more than 50mm," said a former chief engineer from the storm water drains department.

The other aspects of the Brimstowad project are around 60% complete. Only 13 of the 20 works were completed in the first phase while only two of the 34 works were ready in the second phase. Due to the BMC's inability to remove encroachments, the effectiveness of completed projects is also affected. Delay in implementation has led to a rise in project cost from Rs 1,200 crore to Rs 3,500 crore.