Mumbai, June 3 (IANS) BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner, Ashwini Bhinde, on Wednesday said that Mumbai never comes to a complete standstill, nor does it sink after incidents of waterlogging during the monsoon season.

She claimed that an illusion of the entire city drowning is created by repeatedly showing on social media a few selective low-lying areas.

While speaking to a Marathi news channel, the BMC chief remarked, “Mumbai appears flooded only to those who wish to see it that way. The ground reality is entirely different. Even when heavy rain and high tide occur simultaneously, water accumulates only in low-lying areas, and that, too, does not persist for more than two hours. Projecting a picture that the entire city is submerged by repeatedly broadcasting a few specific low-lying pockets is incorrect. Mumbai never sinks.”

“Mumbai is truly a city of dreams, drawing thousands of people every day for employment. Naturally, Mumbai’s population is massive, while the available space is extremely limited. Providing all civic amenities to such a massive population presents numerous challenges for the administration,” Bhide said.

She further stated, “Geographically, Mumbai is surrounded by the sea on three sides, and it also receives exceptionally heavy rainfall. On days when a high tide in the sea coincides with torrential downpours, water accumulates in the low-lying areas of the city.

“The municipal corporation has been working consistently on this issue for the last several years. Previously, there were over 200 such waterlogging spots across Mumbai. Thanks to appropriate remedial measures, this number has now been brought down to around 90. This count will decrease even further in the near future. However, until then, water may accumulate in specific areas for a brief period.”

She reiterated that the claim that Mumbai shuts down completely due to rain is factually incorrect. Often, the situation is highly exaggerated on social media. Last year as well, Mumbai witnessed record-breaking rainfall, yet the local trains were disrupted for barely an hour. As a safety precaution, only a few bus routes had to be diverted. Due to the thorough pre-monsoon preparations by the administration, the situation is improving significantly, she added.

“To prevent rainwater accumulation, four massive underground holding tanks have been constructed across Mumbai. During periods of heavy rainfall, water is stored in these tanks and later pumped out. Apart from this, work is progressing rapidly on seven Sewage Treatment Plants for wastewater recycling. Additionally, to permanently resolve the issue of potholes in Mumbai, large-scale concretisation of roads is being carried out,” Bhide stated.

–IANS

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