Mumbai: Central Railway has a plan to solve Mithi menace

Fourteen years after it brought the city to its knees during the July 26 2005 deluge the Mithi continues to pose problems to planners despite their best efforts Following Wednesdays flooding that left the city gridlocked railway officials on Thursday said they have a solution to the problem and are willing to submit it to the BMC The rivers level rose to the highest ever recorded mdash 42 metres mdash around 3 pm on WednesdayAlso ReadMumbaikars now you can live track a Mumbai local trainYesterday water receded at a rate of about half an inch per hour and it took us eight hours to restore the CR line that runs parallel to the river a senior official told midday Central Railway divisional engineers have worked on a solution to widen the Mithi and improve the drainage We will submit the plan to the BMCThe official said the stretch of the river running parallel to the CR tracks has to be widened and deepened while also improving the floodplains and removing encroachments that block the free flow of water The plan also gives a kilometrewise breakup of the improvements requiredThe official said the Mumbai division took up the issue with the chief secretary on Thursday morning during a coordination meeting but was told to take it up with the BMC independentlyAlso ReadMumbai Next disaster is arriving on platform No1 at Ghatkopar railway stationRailway tracks run over the Mithi river in some parts of the cityWR affected tooOn Wednesday the area between Sion and Chunabhatti was flooded stopping both the main Central and Harbour lines On the Western Railway the stretch between Mahim and Bandra was floodedOn WR there was heavy backflow of water from the Dharavi nallah a subsidiary of Mithi to the railway area which resulted in severe flooding of tracks at Mahim and Matunga Road stations Backflow from the Dharavi nullah has not happened for several years The matter was highlighted to BMC for further remedial action said a WR officialYears of failuresThe Mithis average width is 5m in the north near Vihar lake and was widened to 25m in the middle and up to 70m in the south after the 2005 delugeThe Mithi River Development and Protection Authority was formed in 2006 to coordinate between MMRDA and BMC for restoration of Mithi and to mitigate floodingSources said that both MMRDA and BMC had spent over Rs 1200 crore on various projects for Mithis restoration and cleaning But all of this was only for beautification and developmentActivist Jitendra Gupta said Wednesdays fiasco needed accountability investigation and answers from those at the top Earlier once in four to five years residents staying in lowlying areas used to face flooding Now it happens every year On Wednesday the rains stopped at 4 pm but it took eight to nine more hours for the water to recede said GuptaAlso ReadOver 500 Central and Western Railway stations get WiFi connectivityCatch up on all the latest Mumbai news crime news current affairs and also a complete guide on Mumbai from food to things to do and events across the city here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates