Kalamboli residents face waterlogging due to service road work at Kamothe

Almost four lakh residents from the Kalamboli node under the City And Industrial Development Corporation (Cidco) have been facing waterlogging since the onset of monsoon with even slight showers cause the area to flood. Locals are pointing the finger at the Public Works Department (PWD) which has blocked three water exits to the creek as part of the road construction work to link Kamothe to Sion-Panvel Road.

After delays in providing direct connectivity between Kamothe and Sion-Panvel Highway, PWD authorities started work in April and are slated to complete construction by the end of September.

While motorists and Kamothe residents are happy that the work has kicked off, Kalamboli residents are angered by the consequent waterlogging.

Girish Raghuvanshi executive engineer, Cidco, Kalamboli node said, “Water pumping gen-sets have been installed in Kalamboli in order to remove the excessive water accumulated during the rains.” He said that Cidco would need to get in touch with the PWD to identify the cause of waterlogging and check if it is because of the water exit outlets being blocked.”

PWD executive engineer Kishore Patil said,” Our work is construction and maintenance of the road. The priority right now is to complete the road which will connect Kamothe to Sion-Panvel Highway.”

There used to be four outlet points for exit of excessive water from the creek, on the Kalamboli side. However, during road work, three of these four outlets have been blocked because of dumping of construction waste. The remaining one outlet has also been narrowed down because of debris; hence, water is not drained out but rather enters the area during high tide, resulting in waterlogging in the node.

Residents allege that Cidco has not paid due attention to the node and turns a deaf ear to their complaints.

Atmaram Kadam a resident from Kalamboli said, “We have been facing this problem since the onset of monsoon. The entire area has been flooded and the low lying areas are affected worse still.”

Cidco had developed two holding ponds in Kalmaboli in sector 7 and 21 which are crucial in saving the nodes from flooding due to heavy rains. The corporation claims the issue is one of jurisdiction and says it will not carry out any work of opening the exits as the area falls under the Panvel City Municipal Corporation (PCMC).

Prakash Jadhav, 35, a resident from Kalamboli said, “The nullah made by Cidco is completely ineffective in draining the water and it mostly overflows. Nullahs are not regularly cleaned hence rain water mixes with sewage which worsens the waterlogging problem.”

The Dutch dyke system based on holding ponds collects seweage water. During high tide, the dyke gets automatically closed, preventing sea water from flowing into the pond. During low tide, the dyke opens, allowing sewage water from the holding pond to flow into the creek. However, the entire system has been affected as the three major water outlets have been shut by the PWD.