Brimstowad, pumping projects fail, raising questions over cost

Mumbai: Despite much clamour over it, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Brimstowad project and six pumping stations that were put in place after the July 2005 deluge in Mumbai, were unable to save the city from getting engulfed by Tuesday’s massive downpour.

The failure has raised a huge question mark over spending of thousands of crores of rupees from taxpayers’ pockets over these projects.

The Brihanmumbai Storm Water Disposal System (Brimstowad) project was undertaken by the civic body after the city witnessed unprecedented floods on July 26, 2005, in which more than 450 people lost their lives and an estimated loss of over Rs 1,000 crore was incurred.

The project was implemented to overhaul Mumbai’s century-old water drainage system, by improving its capacity of draining 25 mm of rain per day to 50 mm. As a part of the project, it was also proposed to construct eight pumping stations across the city. Of the eight, six pumping stations at Irla (Juhu), Haji Ali, Lovegrove and Cleveland Bunder (both at Worli), Britannia (Reay Road) and Gazdarbund (Khar) have been completed.

However, out of total 58 Brimstowad works (1,14,102 metres length), only 28 having length of 91,886 metres (80 per cent) have been completed so far. The pumping stations at Mogra (Santacruz) and Mahul are also yet to be completed.

The delay in completing the Brimstowad project has seen its cost balloon more than three times its original cost. With several obstacles and delays plaguing the works, the project cost has zoomed to a whopping Rs 4,000 crore as opposed to its original cost of Rs 1,200 crore in the last 11 years. The BMC has also spent more than Rs 500 crore on the construction of six pumping stations.

“Under Brimstowad, the capacity of city drains has been augmented to 50 mm of rain per day. But when you receive 320 mm of rainfall, they are bound to prove insufficient to handle such types of downpour,” said municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta.

“In addition to this, the high tide in the evening also aggravated things a little,” he added.

Civic activists have slammed the BMC, saying it is making false claims. “With the completion of Brimstowad project, the BMC had assured that the city’s waterlogging problems would be eased to a large extent. What worries me is that even 12 hours after Tuesday’s rains, many parts of the city were still under the water. The pumping stations should have quickly discharged the water from flooding areas. If it does not happen, what is the use of the drainage system?” asked Nikhil Desai, who works with a social organisation, from Matunga.

Down the drain?
Under the Brimstowad project, the city’s drainage capacity has been improved from 25 mm of rain per day to 50 mm. Out of total 58 Brimstowad works (1,14,102 metres length), only 28 works having length of 91,886 metres (80 per cent) have been completed so far. Of eight pumping stations, Irla (Juhu), Haji Ali, Lovegrove and Cleveland Bunder (both at Worli), Britannia (Reay Road) and Gazdarbund (Khar) have been completed, while Mogra (Santacruz) and Mahul are yet to be completed.