The Mumbai Drainage Failure
Thursday - August 31, 2017 6:11 am ,
Category : WTN SPECIAL
The Mumbai Drainage Failure
The Mumbai Drainage Failure
Rains have again brought Mumbai to its knees, even when at about 300 mm it is nowhere near the 2005 deluge that saw over 900 mm rains. But it is surprising that in 12 years we have learned no lessons from the disaster the megapolis faced in 2005. The British-era draining system has seen no major overhauling in centuries.
The Mithi river, which could serve as a major drainage duct during heavy rains, is chocked with garbage dumped by the people apart from rampant encroachment that has almost ravaged its catchment area. The mangroves which dotted the Mumbai coast are almost gone and there is no natural water absorption system in place anymore.
Whatever mangrove is left is also facing the constant danger of being wiped out sooner than later. Unbridled and unplanned constructions have been allowed over the years by venal babus in collusion with corrupt politicos, with little regard for environmental concerns.
Almost all the natural water bodies and nullahs the city was bestowed with are gone or are on the verge of extinction due to constructions, encroachments, and garbage. The intricate nullah network in the city if well connected and channelized could give 300kms of natural drainage facility to the city.
There are no plans to save the rivers Oshiwara, Dahisar, and Poisar either and it is unlikely that BMC is much aware of their condition. The civic body of Mumbai is the richest in the country, yet ironically it's spending on infrastructure and civic amenities is hardly 18-20 per cent of the budget. It is sitting on fixed deposits of about Rs 62,000 crore which could be easily used to spruce up the drainage system before the rains.
It was way back in 1985 that after a heavy downpour the municipal corporation had appointed British consultants Watson Hawksly to give a plan so that the city could easily take on rains up to at least 50 mm. Three decades down the line, none of the major recommendations of the experts like establishing pumping stations, widening culverts, desilting nullahs or constructing floodgates have been implemented.
The project’s total cost was about Rs 616 crore in 1992 and was supposed to be finished by 2004. In 2017, the municipality had spent just Rs 260 crore. This in itself speaks volumes of the efficiency and sincerity of our administration. With even the basic social engineering coordinates in a quandary, can we ever dream of Mumbai is in the league of Singapore or Tokyo or New York?
A few hours of rains bring 19 million people to a halt, disrupting rail services, breakdown road traffic, hit power and communication network in a leading city of South Asia in the 21st-century era of scientific and technological advancements. And the pity is, it is not just about Mumbai. Most of our cities are equally vulnerable and are equally unprepared. Most cities have archaic and obsolete drainage patterns unfit to serve the needs of an ever burgeoning population.
Year after year we see deluges engulfing our cities – sometimes it is Kolkata, sometimes Chennai or sometimes Mumbai. We have seen the situation in modern cities of Gurugram and Chandigarh too suffering the same fate—all due to lack of proper planning and execution, with corruption playing a major role.-Window To News
