Mithi River

Shiv Sena

BMC

Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi

Areas such as Bandra (East), which are close to the Mithi river, were worst affected during heavy rain on Wednesday

Political blame game begins as Congress says Sena-controlled municipality is a total failure.A political blame game has begun over the massive flooding that hit the city on Wednesday, especially along the, which saw areas such as Kurla, Bandra (East) and Bandra Kurla Complex (BKC) inundated with waist-high water. The, which has ruled thefor more than two decades, has demanded an investigation and asked the BMC if the ongoing metro works made the deluge worse. The Congress, meanwhile, has criticised the Sena, saying the party has woken up “25 years too late”.In a letter to, Shiv Sena corporator Yashwant Jadhav, who heads the Civic Standing Committee, urged the BMC administration to open a probe. Comparing Wednesday’s flooding to the July 26, 2005, deluge, Jadhav asked if flood mitigation measures taken by the BMC after July 2005 had failed. He specifically referred to the reverse flooding in Mithi, which inundated streets and housing societies.“There was water logging hours after the rains stopped. After the July 26 deluge, many pumping stations were constructed and the Mithi River was widened too. All this was done so that floodwaters recede quickly. New storm drains were also laid,” the letter said.“Are the ongoing metro works responsible for the flooding? Or are the augmentations of the lakes supplying water to the city causing the increased flooding? Were the measures taken to prevent flooding wrongly executed?”On Wednesday Kalanagar, in Bandra (East), saw flooding for the third time this monsoon, with water from BKC and Mithi gushing into residential areas. There was knee high water in societies like Patrakar, Sahitya Sahvas and Artek. Residents who were home had to stay put. Others had no choice but to wade in.On Thursday Mumbai Mirror highlighted how the reverse flooding, combined with high tide, had submerged Western Railway tracks at Mahim and Matunga for the first time00000 in many years. But the worst was reserved for Kurla, where there was waist-deep water, and parts of Bandra (East) and BKC. So severe was the situation in Kurla that 1,500 people from Krantinagar had to be evacuated. While the high tide was certainly a contributing factor, by the BMC’s own admission Mithi had already crossed the danger mark at 1.15 pm.The Congress slammed the Shiv Sena for seeking a probe into the flooding. “It looks like the Shiv Sena has woken up 25 years too late,” said Congress corporator Ravi Raja, opposition leader in the BMC. “They are demanding a probe now? The BMC administration has been a total failure and this year, the waterlogging has been unprecedented and all their claims have drowned in the floodwaters. There must be a high level probe and officials must be held accountable. In 2015, dozens of officials were suspended and booked in the de-silting scam but now, there is no action.”Jadhav sought a meeting of all concerned officials on the issue. In his letter, he urged the BMC to carry on flood mitigation work on a “war footing”.