The Milan Subway in Mumbai, notorious for waterlogging and traffic congestion during the monsoon season, will finally get some relief this year. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has constructed an underground water-holding tank to address the issue of flooding. Located between Santacruz and Khar in the western suburbs, the subway has frequently been inundated with water, even after short periods of rain. Previous attempts to address the problem with dewatering pumps did not yield lasting results. To tackle the issue, the BMC has created an underground holding pond in a municipal garden adjacent to the subway. During the rainy season, the collected rainwater in the subway will be directed to the tank through a rainwater channel. The tank is designed as a pit below ground level to facilitate easy flow of water, and it is equipped with pumps that will channel the accumulated water through stormwater drains. The tank contains two submersible pumps with a capacity to pump out 30 lakh liters of water annually. The construction of the tank is 95% complete, and the BMC aims to finish the project before the onset of the monsoon. The cost of the project is estimated at Rs 41 crore. The tank has a capacity of 30,000 cubic meters, equivalent to holding three crore liters of water for a duration of six hours. Last year, the BMC partially used this tank on a trial basis during the monsoon. However, since the tank was not fully operational and lacked pumps at the start of the rainy season, it did not yield the desired results. This year, the tank will be fully operational for the first time. Being a low-lying flood-prone area, the subway is expected to find a permanent solution to its waterlogging problem with the implementation of this holding tank, according to P Velrasu, Additional Municipal Commissioner (projects). While heavy flooding is unlikely this year in the subway due to water collection and transfer to the tank, during heavy rainfall, there may still be temporary water accumulation of five to six inches inside the subway until the collected water settles in the tank. During this time, the two pumps will direct the stored water during low tide, ensuring continuous vehicular movement. The BMC had previously implemented a similar underground holding tank at Pramod Mahajan Udyan in Dadar to prevent waterlogging at the Hindmata junction, another flood-prone area known for its saucer shape. This approach proved successful, as the junction remained free of flooding during the monsoon, allowing uninterrupted traffic flow.
