BMC Struggles to Repair Sunken Mumbai Road Before PM Modi’s Visit

Water pipes reportedly burst from the pressure of excess water that the heavy rains dropped on Mumbai.

A road leading to Metro Cinemas caved in in Mumbai’s Kalbadevi area after a pipeline burst due to heavy rains outside Gol Masjid on Monday, 24 June.

(Photo: The Quint)

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has found itself in the difficult position of repairing a sinkhole in a road leading to Metro Cinemas in Mumbai’s Kalbadevi, before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the city, which is scheduled for later on Tuesday, 26 June.

This particular road is important because during Modi’s visit, it is expected to take all the heavy traffic which is diverted its way, reports Mid-Day.

The road had caved in after a 600 mm pipeline burst due to heavy rains outside Gol Masjid on Monday, 24 June.

Following the incident, all traffic to and from Marine Lines station and Metro cinemas had reportedly been diverted. No casualties were reported.

The pipes reportedly burst as they could not take the pressure of excess water from the heavy rains that lashed Maximum City.

Mumbaikars React

Mumbaikars already troubled by the downpour took to Twitter to share pictures of the collapsed road.

BMC Working Overnight to Repair Road Before Modi Visit

In light of Prime Minister Modi’s visit to Churchgate on Tuesday, a lot of the traffic on that path was expected to be diverted to alternate roads close by, including the one that had collapsed due to the pipeline burst a day earlier.

We have instructed the staff to complete the work on a war footing so that we can reinstate the road at the earliest. We need this road to be free for vehicles without any obstructions.

Kiran Dighavkar, Assistant municipal commissioner of A-ward to <i>Mid-Day</i>

A traffic policeman stationed at the road told the newspaper that even if the repair work went on longer than expected, and was still being carried out during Modi’s visit, they would still open it, even if for only one-way traffic.

And traffic control isn’t the worst of the BMC’s problems.

According to the report, since the ruptured pipeline was supplying water to four zones in south Mumbai – Fort, Dongri, Saboo Siddique, and the Bombay hospital area – those area can expect to be hit with water problems.

“We will not completely shut their water supply, because there is another line next to the affected one. However, the pressure of the water will be low,” Ashok Tawadia, Water Department chief told Mid-Day.

(With inputs from Mid-Day.)