This monsoon, residents of Byculla, Parel and Dadar might not have to wade through knee-deep or waist-high water. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has reconstructed major parts of stormwater drains in these areas and has increased their capacity to release water from 25mm of precipitation to 50 mm in an hour. According to Storm Water Drain (SWD), of the total 3098-km stormwater drain network, 2613 km has been reconstructed while the remaining 485 km will be repaired before the arrival of monsoon. Srikant Kawle, chief engineer of SWD department said that some of the drains were constructed during British Era and were in dire need of reconstruction. Flood-prone spots like Lalbaug Flyover, Mazgaon, Jinbhai Mulji Rathod Marg, Byculla areas, Burhani College, Chinchpokli and KEM Hospital are likely to get relief, claims Kawle. He added that the capacity of drains have been increased and now drain can flush out more water. The dimension of stormwater drains near Burhani College in Mazgaon area has been increased from 450 mm to 1000 mm and 1400 mm. Similarly, the dimension of Mandlik bridge also known as S Bridge in Byculla east, was increased from 300 mm to 600 mm. Due to damage in storm water drain, the area near the KEM hospital in Parel in F North ward used to flood every monsoon. In a major relief to the residents of the area, the 600 mm pipeline has been replaced with a new one. The drain in another flood-prone spot in the city — junction of B.A. Road and Dattaram Lad Marg in E ward — has also been repaired.

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