Mumbai: Wait for pumping stations continues

Mumbai city's wait for the remaining two pumping stations still continues even after 13 long years. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) somehow managed the construction of another six pumping stations at a snail's pace. However, the Mogra pumping station near Andheri was halted due to a land dispute case, while the construction of the Mahul pumping station required the Salt commissioner's nod.

The Mogra pumping station will help to reduce flooding in Andheri subway, Azad Nagar, SV Road, Link Road, and Veera Desai Road, while the Mahul pumping station is expected to provide relief to Sion and Matunga. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, in his briefing, after visiting the disaster control room and on the floor of the assembly said that Mumbai flooded due to the two pumping stations at Mogra and Mahul, which are yet to be constructed.

Many parts of the city are saucer shaped and with narrow drainage pipes. The problem manifests when there is a heavy rain at the time of high tide. The floodgates have to be shut in order to prevent seawater from entering the city. At such times, water needs to be pumped out from the nullahs or the drainage lines, and released in the sea from a height. The pumping stations do the exact thing and such eight pumping stations were recommended in the Brihanmumbai Stormwater Disposal System (BRIMSTOWAD) plan which was ready in the 90s.

Although the six pumping stations started, Mahul and Mogra stations are still on paper. The Mogra pumping station is on a private land and two parties are claiming the compensation amount. The case hearing is still going in the High Court. "The court has asked the BMC to deposit a land value of Rs 45 crore, which will be given to the rightful owner once the dispute is resolved," said an officer from the Stormwater Drainage Department of the BMC. But the path is not smooth. Now, the BMC needs the Suburb Collector's permission and environmental clearance from the state and the centre as the spot is in the mangrove land.

Mahul has another story altogether. The station is in a mangrove area, which comes under the Salt Pan Commissioner who is in Delhi. As per the information given by a BMC official, the BMC had sent the proposal to the Salt Commissioner two years back, and this year in February, it received the reply stating the proposal has to come through the state government. The BMC official claims that they have already made the changes to the plan to minimise the destruction of mangroves but it still needs the approval from the environment ministry, which can be taken only after the Salt Pan Department accept BMC's request.

Ashwini Joshi, the additional municipal commissioner said, "There was a delay because of a court case where mangroves were not allowed to be cut and some permissions did not come by. In the Mogra pumping station case, we did not have the land, which we have managed to get now. The work should be over and the pumping stations should start in a year's time, and will thus give a relief to the areas and its vicinity."

The BMC had started acting on the BRIMSTOWAD plan after the July 26 disaster. The civic body constructed Haji Ali and Irla (Juhu) pumping stations in 2010 but the third and fourth pumping stations took another five years. The Lovegrove and Cleveland pumping stations at Worli started in 2015. The Britannia pumping station started in 2016, while the Gazdhar Bandh in Bandra started in the last month. However, the remaining two pumping stations are still on paper.