Mumbai rains: Clogged drains due to BKC flyover work may cause flooding

The plinths for the connector bridge have been constructed right where the footpath and drain used to be on LBS Marg along the west side of Sion station PicSayyed Sameer AbediSion railway station already quick to flood could now possibly be at even more danger of getting submerged Sources from the Central Railway have alleged that the drain near the lowlying station was tampered with during the ongoing construction of the connector bridge between the Eastern Express Highway and BandraKurla Complex BKC However MMRDA the agency in charge has refuted the claimA Central Railway CR official said that the new bridge was being constructed close to Sion station in the north end and the plinths of have been installed on either side of the railway lines On the west side the plinths stand right on the spot where the footpath and the drain once stood If it rains very heavily this could lead to flooding in the area faster MMRDAs top officials should inspect the work that the contractor has done he saidSion station is already lowlying and may be at increased risk of flooding if the bridges plinths have indeed blocked the drains PicSayyed Sameer AbediRailways worriedThe railways have written to the MMRDA Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority about the ongoing work along LBS Marg near Sion station said the railway official He added Sion is already a lowlying area that is prone to flooding Such obstructions in the drains lead to further disruption of services and passenger inconvenience We will have to monitor the situation carefullyThis is yet another instance where far from reducing Mumbais waterlogging woes the authorities seem to be putting the city at even more risk of flooding midday had last year reported how the Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation MMRC had put the city at risk by clogging and damaging the drainage lines while drilling the underground Metro III corridorMMRDA sent this image to show that the storm water drain had been divertedLocal activist SH Gupta said he was had pointed out the problem with the Sion connector bridge a few weeks ago on Twitter and had even tagged CR and MMRDA But since MMRDA is not active on Twitter they seem to be missing out on a lot of realtime issues In the age of technology a big organisation like this cannot stay behindNo problem says MMRDAOn the other hand MMRDA spokesperson Dilip Kawathkar rubbished the allegations stating MMRDA has been very careful while planning and executing all such infrastructure projects in Mumbai As far as the BKC connector is concerned all relevant drains were properly diverted none of them have been blockedAn MMRDA engineer who conducted a joint inspection of the site with the railways said that the drains had been diverted properly We can send you photographs that all the storm water drains have been properly diverted and cleaned up There might be problems with the discharge of water into Mithi river due to encroachments around but there will be no problem due to the BKC connector work he told middayActivist Gupta was sceptical about MMRDAs claims Whatever claims are being made will be tested as soon as the rains start Let us wait and see he saidThe 16km connector will start at GBlock in BKC go across Mithi river LBS Marg and the CR tracks before it meets the Eastern Express Highway It will cut travel time from 30 minutes to less than 10 minutes and is expected to be completed by December 2018Also read Mithi River choked due to Metro III Will Mumbai face massive floods in 2018Catch 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