A light drizzle on Thursday morning resulted in waterlogging near the Phoenix Marketcity mall in Kurla, causing inconvenience to the people. Local residents and activists have blamed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) saying poor desilting work was the root cause of the issue.
According to data shared by the BMC, there are 386 flooding spots in Mumbai, of which, work at 282 spots has been completed. The area near Phoenix Marketcity is one of the chronic spots which gets waterlogged every monsoon. “This situation is not new for us. Every year we have to face the same difficulties in the monsoon. But this year the surprising thing is that the water accumulated with just a light drizzle,” local resident Rakesh Patil said. He added that the area was waterlogged for nearly one hour in the morning.
According to activist Anil Galgali, even if the area is considered a chronic spot, the desilting of drains and nullahs can give some relief. “The desilting of the Sunder Bagh nullah is not satisfactory, causing frequent waterlogging incidents every year. The BMC gives false promises of desilting but on the ground, the situation is very different,” he added.
Former corporator from Kurla, Ashraf Azmi said, “The work of the stormwater drain at Kamani Junction is yet to be completed and there is no connectivity at LBS Marg. If the rainwater is not going into the stormwater drain, then it is bound to come on the road.” He further questioned why the BMC felt the need to install dewatering pumps after claims that they have worked on the chronic spots.
Meanwhile, the assistant municipal commissioner of L ward, Mahadev Shinde did not respond to calls for comment.
