By IANS
Mumbai : Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will hand over the first instalment of a Rs.12 billion cheque to improve Mumbai’s century-old drainage system so that the city doesn’t sink during monsoon rains.
The prime minister, 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Mumbai’s outdated drainage system – which in most areas exists only in name – grabbed national attention after a killer deluge of July 2005 sparked by a cloudburst.
The current drainage system in Mumbai, put in place at the beginning of the 20th century, is only capable of handling rain intensity of 25 mm per hour. Officials say this is inadequate to meet the present requirements.
The Brihan Mumbai Storm Water Drainage Project (BRIMSTOWAD) will upgrade it to 50-60 mm per hour subject to a maximum of 450 mm in 24 hours.
Britain-based consultants Watson Hawksley drew up the proposal for the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in 1990 after water logging crippled the city.
The Planning Commission and the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs have cleared the project.
Work in the first phase will involve setting up three pumping stations at Haji Ali, Love Grove in Worli and at Irla in Vile Parle. In the second phase, pumping stations will come up at Cleveland and Mogra Nala at Santa Cruz.