Mumbai flooding: Why does the Maximum City sink every year?

In the worst case of flooding after 2005, in which more than 1000 were killed in Mumbai, rains have again battered the Maximum City, bringing it to a grinding halt. Life is thrown out of gear as low-lying areas continue to be waterlogged and the train services, which are the lifeline of the city, are paralyzed. Flights are diverted, subways inundated, and schools after incessant rains for more than 12 hours. The rain is forecast to continue for 48 more hours. Here are some of the lessons that can be drawn out of the disaster.
  1. Modernize the drainage system: Bolster the existing system and carry out fresh projects on an urgent basis. The 100-year-old drainage system is crunching under the weight of the burgeoning population. The infrastructure needs a revamp badly but nothing is being done about it.
  2. Issue prompt warnings: The public usually gets caught unawares. Provide them the window to act in a proactive and timely manner. Given the opportunity, they will take evasive action.
  3. Complete projects on time: Projects planned after the 2005 deluge are nowhere near completion. BMC planned Brimstowad (Brihanmumbai storm water disposal system project), which involved eight pumping stations as well as 58 projects in order to improve Mumbai’s century-old pipelines. However, in the past 12 years, little has been achieved, with a number of them unfinished. Of 58 projects, 28 are finished, whereas 27 continue to be in progress.
  4. Do not allow defaulting contractors and builders to continue. Ensure penalization of such defaulters in a prompt manner.
  5. Remove corruption from the public organization: There is huge corruption in the approval and grant of contracts. Such systemic hurdles need to be removed and more transparency should be brought in. This can be achieved through automation and leveraging technology.
  6. Define the problem and act proactively: Mumbai has a drainage problem. Every time there is heavy rain when the high tide is on, rainwater doesn’t flow out. This floods low-lying parts of the city. Among low-lying parts, railway tracks get inundated easily as they are at times at very low ground levels, even lower than the mean sea level (MSL). The problem is compounded by the choking garbage. 
  7. First published on LinkedIn.Com

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