Monsoon prep: Be alert even on holidays, CM tells officials

BMC proposes quick fix; does not address broader solid-waste mgmt issues, other challenges to flooding

- Linah Baliga

MUMBAI: Brief but intense pre-monsoon showers that lasted 30 minutes on Tuesday night wrought havoc at Saki Naka, Andheri East, triggering unprecedented flooding. Videos began flooding social media soon after, showing garbage floating on the streets in this commercial and industrial belt. Heaps of garbage — equivalent in height to a single-storey building — lay unattended along 90ft Road, prompting citizens to question Mumbai's monsoon preparedness.

On Wednesday, the civic administration reviewed the situation and claimed they had identified the culprit. They blamed Nallah No 10, which cuts through densely populated slums and small-scale industrial units. The problem, officials said, was the dumping of waste into the nallah by residents of slums and small-scale units.

Residents and small business owners did not deny this. K Choudhary, an electrical shop owner on 90ft Road, said industrial units behind Khairani Road dump large amounts of non-biodegradable waste into the drains. "Who dumps a fridge or a sofa into a drain? Until this is checked, nothing will change."

Another shopkeeper at Saki Naka, Sukhjit Singh Atwal, pointed to poor cleaning mechanisms and illegal encroachments. "The drains are blocked by street vendors who have no waste disposal system. Even light rain causes two feet of waterlogging."

Mandeep Singh Makkar, founder of the Chandivali Citizens Welfare Association (CCWA), underlined the need for structured garbage collection systems in slums. "Unlike housing societies that segregate and compost waste, slums lack a proper collection system, so dumping in open spaces and nallahs becomes the norm."