Mid Day

Mumbai, Apr 10: The message from the MMRDA is loud and clear.

Mumbai is still not equipped to handle a deluge like the one that took place on July 26, 2005. MMRDA chief T Chandrashekhar, in a meeting with Mayor Shubha Raul on Monday, submitted a report to her, admitting that out of 47 chronic flood-prone spots in the city that have been identified, the agency will manage to make 30 of these, flood-free -  only if the rains are normal. If not, Mumbai will once again go under.

The MMRDA claims to have created 400 kilometres of cross drains running east to west and vice versa in the city. Besides this, brand new drains have been built over almost 245 kilometres.

However Chandrashekhar says it’s not enough. “The entire city drains need to be revamped through the BRIMSTOWAD project, which will take at least four years.

Only then, can we say we are prepared for the floods. Today, there are thousands of encroachments that have to be cleared and 16 utility cables just below the ground hampering our work,” said Chandrashekar.

Some of the spots, which continue to remain flood prone, include, LBS Marg and SV Road.

However the mayor and the officials from the BMC seem unperturbed by the explanations of the MMRDA chief.

“The problems regarding encroachments and cables of utility services sound genuine.

We have told them to finish pending road and drains projects. We will inspect their work in the next couple of weeks,” explained Raul.