As monsoons fill the city's storm water drains, Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta stated that the corporation will widen the existing drain pipes to allow free passage of water, however, this will only be possible after twenty four thousand huts set up besides these pipes are rehabilitated.
The new Britannia pumping station which was inaugurated today by Shiv Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray has the capacity to pump out 36,000 liters of water per second but the problem is the narrow size of storm water drain pipes.
The current capacity of storm water drain pipes in Mumbai is for 25 mm of rains but the idea is to widen the drain pipes to handle 50 mm of rains. “For the widening of 35 km of major drain pipes, we will have to rehabilitate 14 thousand huts and for the minor ones about 10 thousand will have to be rehabilitated, these being the ones located close to drain pipes.” stated Mehta.
Thackeray also requested people to stop throwing garbage on the roads or near these pipes. “This is a nice proposal and have requested the commissioner to include it in the new Development Plan (DP). I have literally seen sofas and furniture getting stuck in these pipes damaging the drainage system. So even if we widen these pipes the garbage that gets accumulated will choke the pipes.”
The new pumping station will help BMC pump out water from Babasaheb Ambedkar Marg (North), B.D.D Chawls, Sardar Hotel, Kala Chowki, Godrej Company, Subhanrao Nalawade Marg, T.B.Kadam Marg, Sant Savata Marg Junction, Motishaha Lane and Burhani Collage.
Out of the eight pumping stations proposed under BRIMSTOWAD (Brihanmumbai Municipal Storm Water Drain), five have started operating. The other three are Mahul Pumping station, Gazdharbaand Pumping station and Mogra Pumping Station.