Mumbai: To mitigate the impact of localised flooding during heavy rains, the BMC has planned the strategic deployment of vehicle-mounted dewatering pumps across several congested areas in Mumbai.
The vehicles equipped with these dewatering pumps are specifically designed to navigate through narrow, densely populated lanes to ensure swift drainage of water. The civic body will lease the fleet for a four-year period at an estimated cost of Rs 8.8 crore, as part of its monsoon preparedness efforts.
On Tuesday, localities such as Saki Naka and Kurla were inundated following a sudden bout of unseasonal rain. Last year too, areas like Chunabhatti experienced sudden flooding during unexpected heavy rains.
To address this issue, the BMC will, for the first time, deploy vehicle-mounted dewatering pumps in Mumbai specifically for flood management. “The primary objective of acquiring these vehicles is to enable rapid response in low-lying areas prone to sudden waterlogging,” said a senior civic official.
These are portable pumping stations mounted on vehicles designed to efficiently remove water from areas with challenging topography. The tender for procuring 10 such vehicle-mounted dewatering pumps is currently under approval. The vehicles are expected to be commissioned by the BMC before the onset of the monsoon season. These vehicles will act as first responders during flooding emergencies.
Seven vehicles will be strategically deployed—one in each of the seven zones—while the remaining three will be kept as backup with the BMC’s Storm Water Drain (SWD) departments in the eastern suburb, western suburb, and island city.
Mumbai has a total of 386 identified flooding hotspots, and the BMC plans to install 417 dewatering pumps at critical locations this year. During the last monsoon, the civic body had installed 482 pumps. So far, even before the monsoon’s arrival, the BMC has already deployed around 250 dewatering pumps, said an official.
