Mumbai News: Residents’ Obstruction Halts Dewatering Pumps, Disrupts Railway Services During Heavy Rains

Heavy rains in Mumbai on Tuesday disrupted Central Railway services, submerging four lines at Sion and two Harbour lines between Kurla and Chunabhatti. While heavy rain and rising Mithi River levels contributed to the waterlogging, civic officials said the main issue was obstruction by local residents at sites housing key railway and BMC dewatering pumps.

Local Obstruction Causes Delay

Locals near the Moon Furniture area in Sion and Kurla objected to draining water from railway tracks into their slum areas, halting operations of two railway pumps and three BMC pumps for over two hours. These pumps, with capacities of 250 and 1000 cubic metres per hour respectively, remained shut until civic officials called in the police. Pumping then resumed, and water levels gradually receded.

BMC Efforts

A senior civic official said "Our priority was to restore railway operations by running dewatering pumps, but locals near Moon Furniture objected, claiming the water was being discharged into their area. They halted operations and even threatened the pump operator. Police were called in and stationed at the spot to prevent further disruptions. The water was fully pumped out by evening."

Community Concerns

The BMC stated that its interventions had helped prevent flooding in Chunabhatti during earlier rains this season. However, Tuesday’s heavy downpour inundated railway tracks in low-lying areas. A similar protest by locals occurred at Golibar in Santacruz, where H East ward officials had to intervene to restart a pump. The civic officials said residents resisted out of fear that their areas would flood.