The additional municipal commissioner blamed the ‘unprecedented and unusual rains’ for the flooding of 200 locations. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Nadkar) The additional municipal commissioner blamed the ‘unprecedented and unusual rains’ for the flooding of 200 locations. (Source: Express Photo by Prashant Nadkar)

Four days after it inaugurated the Lovegrove and Cleveland Bunder stormwater pumping stations, they failed to deliver as promised, and the scene elsewhere in the city too contradicted claims of BMC, run by the Shiv Sena, that the city was rain-ready.

On Tuesday, chief of Yuva Sena, the youth wing of the Shiv Sena, Aditya Thackeray had inaugurated the two pumping stations. They were both part of the Brimstowad project, delayed since 1993 and finally undertaken by BMC to reduce water-logging after the 2005 deluge.

The two pumping stations were aimed at providing relief from inundation between Mahalakshmi and Dadar, especially near Dadar railway station, Senapati Bapat Marg, NM Joshi Marg and other low-lying areas. Lovegrove station has 10 pumps and Cleveland has seven and were built at a cost of Rs 113 crore and Rs 115 crore respectively. The same areas faced major water-logging on Friday, restricting traffic movement. Operations at Cleveland that got stuck owing to mud and gravel restricting closure of one of the three gates, resumed by 8.30 pm.

Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said, “Cleveland station has just been constructed. The first rains created problems in operations but that has been addressed. Our top priority is to see that Mumbaikars do not get affected today. We will be dealing with all problems related to desilting, water-logging, functioning of pumping stations at a later stage.”

In the morning, Mehta took stock of Hindmata junction in Dadar. The BMC had claimed that the saucer-shaped junction would witness 60 per cent less water-logging following a massive exercise of fitting misplaced stormwater drain links.

SVR Srinivas, additional municipal commissioner, in-charge of the stormwater drains department said, “The junction will get complete relief only after work for Britannia pumping station is completed. Now, it can only withstand moderate rainfall.”

According to BMC, more than 21 spots faced water-logging of which 13 were severe. BMC recorded 12 wall and house collapses. No casualties were reported in these incidents.

Two people were electrocuted due to a short-circuit at J K Bashir Marg in Wadala on Friday evening. The victims were identified as Ranjit Kumar Gupta (60) and Karnik Gauran Dhamir (5). There were 73 tree collapses. Some parts of the sewerage line opposite Eros Cinema collapsed in the evening. Repairs were undertaken immediately.

BMC had on Friday kept the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Navy and Army teams on standby in case of any major emergency. After the city’s lifeline, the railways, came to a halt, BEST diverted more than 212 buses to help stranded commuters, Mehta said.

With IMD forecasting heavy rains on Saturday, BMC is installing more water pumps. “There were about 5-6 pumps not functioning. We will address those problems. The gutters were clogged with plastic, which will be cleaned. We will deploy more forces,” Mehta added.

tanushreevenkatraman@expressindia.com

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