Mumbai Rains: BMC, Asia's Richest Civic Body, Under Scanner Over Its Failure To Contain Flood-Like Situation

The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for heavy showers in Mumbai which has been witnessing heavy downpour since Sunday night forcing closure of schools and affecting train services due to waterlogging on tracks and railway stations. The few hours of rain have put the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation in the dock despite crores spent on desilting work.

Mumbai: The few hours of rain in Mumbai have yet again submerged the country's financial capital with schools shut, train services affected and roads waterlogged leaving the residents in a flood-like situation. The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for heavy showers in the city for Tuesday with the city recording the second highest July rainfall in 24 hours. The consistent issue of water-logging in the city despite crores of rupees in budget have raised questions over the competence of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Asia's richest municipal corporation.

⛈️🚨The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a Red Alert for Mumbai.

🏫In view of this, all schools and colleges in Mumbai have been declared a holiday for tomorrow Tuesday, 9th July 2024, in consideration of the safety of students.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal…

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) July 8, 2024

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Under Fire: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has to face the wrath of Mumbaikars, despite being known as the richest municipal corporation in Asia. The municipal corporation which boasts of a budget outlay bigger than the budget of eight states taken together, has failed to fix the drainage problem of the city. The BMC has been under administrative rule for the past two years after the term of the corporators ended. Under the guidance of the then Municipal Commissioner and Administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal, the Municipal Corporation presented its budget of Rs 59954 crore for the financial year 2024-25 on February 4, 2024. The budget is bigger than the budget of eight states of the country---Arunachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Goa taken together.

Rs 284 Crore 'Spent' on 'Drain Desilting': As per official data, the BMC has claimed to have spent a whopping Rs 284 crore on “desilting of drains” in the city. The budget includes Rs 60 crore for Mumbai city and Rs 79 crores and Rs 145 crores for the eastern and western suburbs respectively. After the municipal corporation took up the tendering process of the project in January this year, the BMC claimed that 37 percent of the work was completed till the month of April. But, even by the last week of May, the 50 percent target was not achieved in the municipal corporation. While the BMC claims that 90 percent of the drain cleaning work in Mumbai has been completed as on date, the on ground reality suggests something else. There are 254 km of major drains and 444 km of minor drains across the municipal limits of Mumbai.