Mumbai: BMC installs 25 rainwater detection meters to measure flood lines at chronic waterlogging spots

The BMC has in its second attempt installed 25 autoactivated rainwater detection meters to measure flood lines at chronic waterlogging spots in the city The system will be set up at 75 more locations in the suburbs in the next two months However the effect of the project will be seen next year in monsoon as this yearrsquos rainy season is set to end soonThe system once active will help the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation make a flood map of the city which will help tackle regular waterlogging spots betterMumbai has several spots across the city where water gets accumulated easily as they are below sea level Three years ago the BMC had identified 386 such spots and took steps to tackle the issue So far work on 265 such locations is complete by increasing the flow of water as well as that of stormwater drainage and holding tanks and installing pumps The work for the remaining spots are in the various stages of planningAlso read Bhendi Bazaar redevelopment project Residents worry about further delayThe flood gauges will not only send data on water accumulated at the spot but also the rainfall in the vicinity PicSayyed Sameer AbediHowever there isnrsquot any substantial data to support the onspot observation of flooding spots ldquoThough the spots are tackled there isnrsquot any data available on how much water accumulates and the time it takes to recede We even need some system which will show the flood level along with the rainfall in that particular area which gives us information to act onrdquo said a senior officer of the BMCThe civic body had first invited bids to install internetbased autoactivated rain water logging level detectors with remote reading capability system on May 26 but there wasnrsquot any response The BMC then reinvited bids in June and the installation started in August after identification of 25 locations in the southern part of the cityldquoWe will identify the remaining spots and install the system in the next month Though we already installed them in south Mumbai there hasnrsquot been a heavy spell since the past two weeks With only one month remaining we may have to wait for the next monsoon to get actual results But the system will work for the next few years and will get data to tackle flood spotsrdquo said an official from storm water drain departmentldquoThe flood detection system will help to understand the flooding pattern in response to different rainfall levels and also the water receding speed This type of data helps the city to better plan SWD networksrdquo said P Velarasu additional commissioner of the BMCHow it worksThe flood metres are being installed at waterlogging spots As soon as the water level reaches one centimetre the system gets activated There are various colour signals to indicate the level of water at that spotThere is also an alarm system which will alert when the system is hit by something or gets stolen The system is attached to a rainfall gauge so the data of rainfall will also be analysed26Day in May when the BMC first invited bidsWhere the gauges have been installed Vidyalankar College Road Wadala Antophill Fire Brigade St Xavierrsquos Street Bhoiwada Parel Nana Chowk Star Cinema Mazgaon Sakhli street Mumbai Central Nair Road 1 and 2 Mumbai Central Palace Cinema Byculla Sardar Hotel B A Road Godrej Company Lalbaug Sakhubai Mohite Marge Lower Parel Gawde Chowk Senapati Bapat Marg Balasheth Madhurkar Marg Fitwala Lane Elphinston Bhatankar Marg Parel Hindmata Shakkar Panchayat Wadala Hindu Colony Matunga Station Bhau Daji Road Matunga Gandhi Market Gurunanak School Sion Dhobi Ghat M G Road Gurukripa Hotel Sion