Mumbai enlists Japanese help to build underground rainwater storage facilities

Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, September 17

Mumbai’s civic body has sought the help of Japanese experts to help build massive underground storage facilities to hold rain water that would otherwise flood the city.

According to officials here, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has called for experts from a Japanese company, Pacific Consultants Co Ltd, which had built underground silos in Tokyo to hold rain water that was then gradually released into the sea.

“Unlike in Tokyo we are considering holding rainwater in underground tanks that would then be filtered and used for drinking,” Mumbai’s municipal commissioner Praveen Pardeshi told reporters here.

Construction of huge underground storage tanks to hold excess rainwater that would otherwise flood the city was one of the suggestions mooted in the wake of severe flooding in Mumbai this year. BMC officials say two experts from Tokyo are presently in Mumbai to study the topography of flood-hit areas of Mumbai and suggest various measures.

”The two experts from Japan are visiting various flood-prone areas of Mumbai, including the Mithi river and the Tulsi and Vihar lakes,” Additional Municipal Commissioner Vijay Singhal, who is in charge of the storm water drainage department said.

Civic officials say rainwater collected in low-lying areas of Mumbai cannot be pumped into the sea during high tide.

Diverting floodwater to underground tanks is expected to mitigate flooding.

According to officials here, massive underground rainwater storage tanks have been planned in various areas of Mumbai like Bhandup and Mulund.

BMC officials quote Japanese experts as saying that five underground tanks store storm water in Tokyo’s Kasukabe area, which is then gradually discharged into the Edo river to prevent flooding in urban areas.