The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans to install a minimum of 481 dewatering pumps across various low-lying areas in the city ahead of the upcoming monsoon season. These pumps, equipped with high dewatering capacity, are aimed at preventing waterlogging and will remain operational during emergencies, BMC officials stated.
Each pump will be manned by an operator and a helper, with civic engineers at ward levels overseeing their functioning. According to BMC's release issued on Tuesday, when Mumbai experiences heavy rainfall of 55 mm per hour alongside high tide, low-lying areas tend to accumulate water, necessitating the deployment of these pumps.
Hence, the civic body every year identifies such locations and deploys pumps there for pumping out the rain water. The BMC said out of the 481 pumps which the civic body's storm water drains department plans to install, 187 will be put up in the island city, 166 in the western suburbs and 124 in the eastern suburbs.
The BMC reported that in 2022, it initially installed 380 pumps, later augmenting the number by an additional 55 in response to demand. Similarly, in 2023, the initial deployment consisted of 380 pumps, with an additional 112 pumps added subsequently. For the current year, the civic body has decided to commence with the deployment of 481 pumps across all 25 wards from the outset.