Mumbai Rains: South Mumbai Residents Shocked By First-Ever Water-Logging, Blame BMC For Rare Urban Flooding

Mumbai: While the heavy rains on Monday morning brought Mumbai to a standstill, they came as a pure surprise for the residents of South Mumbai who saw water-logged streets in some of the most upscale localities of the city. While most of the South Mumbai residents were taken aback by this view, some accused the municipal corporation of gifting flooded streets to the residents.

The Mumbai Metropolitan Regions was lashed with rains and thunderstorms since Sunday night which continued on Monday morning. While areas like Colaba recorded 83 mm of rainfall from 9am to 10am, CSMT recorded 80 mm, and Malabar Hill recorded 63 mm rainfall, Nariman Point recorded the highest rainfall with 104mm rainfall in an hour.

While the rainfall figures were not unusual for these localities of South Mumbai, the conditions of the bylanes as well as major roads was a rare sighting. Since morning, the visuals of water-logged roads of Fort, Nariman Point, Breach Candy and Tardeo among others started going viral on social media. While a a road caved-in near the Kemps Corner blocking access towards Nepean Sea Road, a landslide occurred near Teen Batti on Walkeshwar Road.

Water logging at Nepean Sea Road in Mumbai

While the historic Oval Maidan in Churchgate overflowed with rainwater, the Maharshi Karve Road running parallel to it and the Dinshaw Vacha Road running perpendicular to it suffered water-logging causing traffic congestion to the commuters and embarrassment to the residents of the UNESCO-designated Art Deco buildings. Churchgate residents alleged that the over-concretisation of land has resulted in the water-logged streets.

Water logging in Islam Gymkhana ground at Marine Lines in Mumbai

Atul Kumar, president of Churchgate Nariman Point Residents’ Association, said, “I have lived my entire life in South Mumbai, earlier near Backbay Reclamation and now at Marine Drive but not once in my life have I seen anything like this. Even earlier, rainfall during high tide hasn’t caused anything like this therefore we were shocked to see this. I don’t know what has changed this year but if there is any culprit, it has to be concretisation.”

The areas located above the sea level also suffered from water-logging on Monday. While the roads near the Old US Consulate in Breach Candy the Nepean Sea Road were flooded with water, pumping vans had to be deployed to clear the water logged there. The residents of Breach Candy raised questions on the effective outfall of water as promised by the authorities before the construction of the Coastal Road.

Nandini Chhabria, a member of Breach Candy Residents Forum, said, “We were informed that the coastal road has been planned in such a way that the outfall will pull all the water out. The authorities need to ensure whether the outfall is effective to remove all the water through the drains without clogging the roads.”

Various parts of Cuffe Parade also suffered water-logging following the heavy rains on Monday. The residents have alleged that the flood-like situation is a direct consequence of the failure to address the longstanding issue of clogged stormwater drains and gutters as BMC chose to turn a blind eye to the clogged drains even after repeated cleaning requests from the residents.

Dr Laura Dsouza, president of Cuffe Parade Residents’ Association, said, “This raises serious concerns about the BMC's ability to handle the impending monsoon season, expected to bring more regular and heavy rainfall. It's frustrating to see that despite our best efforts, nothing seems to be done. Are we, as citizens, expected to keep running around trying to get them to do their job? When will the BMC be held accountable for their inaction?"

The Parsi community’s Cusrow Baug Colony on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road in Colaba also faced flooding. While locals said that they saw water-logging for the first time in the area, they also blamed the BMC of not cleaning the drains before monsoon. The residents also warned that with this changing environmental scenario, the reasons of shifting the upcoming Colaba Jetty elsewhere becomes much stronger.

Pervez Cooper, vice president of Clean Heritage Colaba Residents’ Association, said, “For the first time we saw Cusrow Baug flooded and all credit goes to the BMC. While it claimed to form a disaster management committee, it was caught napping when disaster came. Once they bring a jetty here, they will face the wrath of the sea. Future of the younger generation seems bleak in this city.”