Andheri subway is a crucial east-west connector in the western suburbs and a known flooding hotspot every monsoon. With the subway inundated with up to 2.5 feet of water on Wednesday and closed to traffic, the traffic police diverted the east-west traffic in this area via the Gokhale bridge, causing a detour of approximately 1.5 km for commuters
This was the scene on Monday, but the situation was the same on Wednesday, when the subway was closed for about 40 minutes in the morning and 20 minutes in the afternoon. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE
The Andheri subway has been closed to traffic seven times this week alone, and a total of 10 times in July, due to waterlogging after moderate to heavy spells of rain. On Wednesday, the subway was closed to traffic twice — from 8.23 am to 9.01 am, when the area recorded 47.2 mm of rainfall, and from 1 pm to 1.19 pm, when the area recorded 74 mm, according to information provided by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).
The Andheri subway is a crucial east-west connector in the western suburbs and a known flooding hotspot every monsoon. With the subway inundated with up to 2.5 feet of water on Wednesday and closed to traffic, the traffic police diverted the east-west traffic in this area via the Gokhale bridge, causing a detour of approximately 1.5 km for commuters, and via the Balasaheb Thackeray flyover with a detour of roughly 3 km from the Andheri subway.
Frequent closures of the subway due to waterlogging also cause traffic jams and slow-moving traffic along the SV Road and the Western Express Highway in the Andheri and Jogeshwari areas. Abhijeet Kilpady, a resident of Goregaon and owner of a business in Mahim, said, “It takes me 35 minutes to travel between Andheri and Mahim every day. This week, the average travel time taken from Andheri to Mahim has gone up to one hour. On Monday morning, the entire area near the Andheri subway was waterlogged. The tyres of my car were completely submerged. I had to give my vehicle for a round of services.”
The Andheri subway, which is prone to flooding, on Monday. PIC/SATEJ SHINDE
While the BMC is yet to find a permanent solution to the Andheri subway waterlogging issue, it has stationed three dewatering pumps at the location. As waterlogging is managed by closing the subway, along with multiple traffic advisories from the traffic police about road diversions and traffic jams in the area, the civic body began to face flak from citizens on social media on Wednesday morning. This led to the traffic police trolling the civic body online, by directing complaints to the BMC’s social media handle demanding: “Andheri subway be declared a national treasure so that people can view it but not use it, and it be closed for traffic forever.”
According to information from the BMC’s K West ward control room: “The Andheri subway was closed twice on Wednesday and both times the BMC started operating all three dewatering pumps at full capacity to drain the water.” mid-day contacted officials from the K West ward and BMC’s stormwater drains department but they were unavailable for comment.
Authority Speak
Asked why the Andheri subway is always badly affected by waterlogging, Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar said, “This is a low-lying area. Due to the gradient of the spot, water comes towards the subway at very high velocity.”
Solutions explored by BMC
1. Any solution/project we undertake will require between Rs 300 to Rs 600 crore. We cannot do a rushed job. Till then, the option is to shut the subway when it floods.
2. The BMC is exploring the option of constructing holding ponds at Andheri subway at a cost of Rs 600 crore.
3. IIT is already on board for a Flood Management Plan for Mumbai. Andheri subway is being studied as a part of this plan.
Andheri subway closure
10
No of times subway was shut in July
7
No of times subway was shut this week, till Wed evening
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