By IANS
Mumbai : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hand over the first instalment cheque of the Rs.12 billion Brihan Mumbai Storm Water Drainage Project (BRIMSTOWAD) at a function here Friday.
Singh, who will visit Mumbai and Thane Friday, will present the cheque to the Maharashtra government at a brief function, official sources said. Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh will be present on the occasion.
Mumbai’s inadequate drainage system has grabbed national attention after the deluge of July 26, 2005, triggered by a cloudburst.
The current drainage system in Mumbai, which was put in place at the beginning of the 20th century, is only capable of handling rain intensity of 25 mm per hour, which is inadequate to meet the present requirements.
The BRIMSTOWAD project will upgrade it to 50-60 mm per hour subject to a maximum of 450 mm in 24 hours. The proposal was drawn by UK based consultants Watson Hawksley for the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 1990 after the city faced water logging at several places.