In an unprecedented attempt to beat the Mumbai monsoon, carpets of geo-textile membranes are being laid on stormwater drains along the tracks on Central Railway (CR) to prevent garbage discarded by the public and silt from causing blockages. With the carpets in place, the waste can be easily loaded into garbage trains. The geo-textile membrane carpets are large sheets of permeable fabric that are used in ground engineering and has drainage applications, such as ground filtration, soil separation and ground reinforcement.

Mumbai suburban railway, especially the CR’s Mumbai division, is badly affected during the monsoon due to several low-lying areas and water from the city area flowing into the railway premises during high tides. The silt and garbage in the stormwater drains exacerbate the situation. Despite several awareness initiatives, commuters, citizens, those living near tracks and several other stakeholders dump garbage in railway areas which flows into stormwater drains along tracks and eventually leads to flooding during heavy rains and high tides.