Vivek Agnihotri criticises authorities over waterlogging in Mumbai

Almost every year Mumbai momentarily comes to a standstill during monsoon after rains disrupt the insufficiently maintained city infrastructure. Waterlogging puts traffic at a halt. Something like this happened on Monday when the city saw its highest spell of rainfall in 24 hours since 2019. Mumbai’s Santacruz Observatory recorded 268 mm of rainfall on Monday morning. The Andheri subway got submerged in water and was closed. Film director Vivek Agnihotri reshared a video of a clogged Andheri subway and criticised the government.

He wrote, “I have lived in Mumbai for 30 years. Everything government fails but this subway never fails to flood. It’s so stubborn that despite every government’s promises to solve it, it doesn’t yield. Citizens suffer, they die, but who are they anyway… but my statistics?”

This post prompted a discussion about whether or not Mumbai should have subways to begin with. An X user wrote, “I keep saying subways are a bad idea in India. We need overpasses to avoid such situations. Keep my fingers crossed for the underground Metro coming up.”

Another person commented, “Sir, it’s an engineering problem. Subways are clogged with water. From day one I’m not in favour of subways.. but flyovers. India has seasons and rainfall will clog subways for sure. No amount of water pumping can solve this.”

A Mumbai resident shared, “I have seen yearly flooding of this subway from my school days in the 70’s. Frankly, unless we lift the subway by 20ft, which practically means no subway, flooding is unavoidable.”

Criticising the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for poor urban planning and not preparing the city for expected monsoon, an X user wrote, “Mumbai BMC is the richest municipality in Asia then why do we face such a situation every monsoon? Because of corrupt practices & non political will & most importantly people don’t want their environment habitat clean as much as their houses.”

In the light of Monday’s downpour, all schools and colleges were instructed to remain shut. Scores of flights to and from Mumbai were also cancelled or postponed. Almost all local train lines were disrupted. A Western Railway spokesperson told the media, “High capacity water pumps are being utilised to drain water away from the railway tracks to ensure a smooth commute for Mumbaikars.”