Mumbai rains: Marine Lines flooding due to blocked outfall: BMC; locals blame coastal road | Mumbai News – Times of India

MUMBAI: Marine Lines residents on parts of E, F, and G roads woke up to flooded roads on Thursday morning. While the railways and residents blamed the ongoing Mumbai Coastal Road works for the “unusual” waterlogging, the BMC denied the claim and attributed the inundation to stones, brought in by huge waves, blocking a stormwater drain outfall along the sea.

Claiming that stormwater drains in the area were not cleaned, Nikhil Banker, secretary of Marine Drive Residents’ Action Group and a resident of G Road, said: “We believe that the ongoing coastal road works are blocking the water entrances and so our area is witnessing waterlogging for the last few monsoons.”
Purshottam Hemdev, who lives in Neeta building on G Road, complained that their vehicles were being damaged owing to the water seeping into the compounds.

Suresh Chhabria, who has been living on E Road for the last six decades, was shocked to see such extensive water accumulation. “We are trapped in our homes due to the flooding. It appears that the railways is also directing water into our premises. While we focus on grand infrastructure projects like the coastal road, we seem to neglect critical problems like waterlogging.”
Railway officials clarified that the rainwater from the tracks along Marine Lines was not flowing towards the roads, but was draining into the sea via Patan Jain and Shantiniketan outfalls. “Due to the coastal road work being executed by L&T, through BMC, the excavated debris was blocking the outfalls, which is why both culverts were operating at half capacity,” said a railway official, adding: “All manholes on the west side of the railway tracks till Marine Drive were overflowing. Railway and BMC officials, along with representatives from L&T, visited the site and were advised to take immediate action to keep the outfall free of debris.”
When contacted, officials from BMC’s A ward said the blocked outfall entry was being cleared up on priority basis. “The outfall entry near the tripods has got blocked. We are working on resolving the issue at the earliest,” said a ward official.
However, an official from the Mumbai Coastal Road department said the blocked outfall is not in their work area. “The outfall is on the south of our work, but we are still helping the civic teams in clearing up the blockages,” said the official.
Meanwhile, parts of Cuffe Parade also witnessed waterlogging on Thursday. Former BJP corporator Harshita Narwekar said slums, especially Ganesh Murthy Nagar and Ambedkar Nagar, were inundated.