A newly concreted road in the heart of the city has been waterlogged after just one pre-monsoon downpour, reigniting debate over civic planning and accountability.
The incident took place on Bora Bazar Street in Fort, a historically flood-free area that has now seen standing water for the first time. The road, which underwent concreting barely a month ago under the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) expansive anti-pothole and anti-trenching drive, was intended to enhance durability and reduce long-term maintenance. But instead, it has surfaced a deeper flaw in the civic body’s project planning—lack of synchronisation with existing stormwater drainage infrastructure. What was projected as a solution to chronic road degradation has inadvertently exposed the systemic disconnect between surface-level development and underground civic services. Local residents, stunned by the irony, say the area remained dry even during the city’s most intense monsoons in past years.
The fresh flooding has forced the BMC to dig up sections of the brand-new concrete road to install an underground drain and chamber system—an action that critics say could and should have been anticipated. Bora Bazar, a bustling commercial stretch known for its legacy stationery stores and residential clusters, is now the epicentre of public outrage. Shopkeepers report that the unexpected flooding disrupted daily business, while residents point to the BMC’s headquarters being a stone’s throw away from the site—a fact that amplifies the civic irony. An official from the BMC’s roads department acknowledged the issue and confirmed remedial action is underway. A new drain is being constructed precisely where rainwater collected, with a chamber to facilitate faster discharge into the city’s stormwater network. But urban planners and civic activists argue that the need for such interventions, post-construction, reflects a lack of holistic urban planning.
The incident raises broader questions about the city’s preparedness for the monsoon, particularly in light of the ongoing concretisation drive, which has seen hundreds of crores of rupees being funnelled into road works. Without alignment between surface infrastructure and underground utility systems, the potential for similar lapses elsewhere in the city remains dangerously high. While the BMC has initiated damage control with emergency drainage measures, the larger takeaway for citizens and policymakers is clear: infrastructure must be both visible and invisible, but most importantly, it must work in harmony. As Mumbai prepares for heavier rains, this episode could serve as a cautionary tale—highlighting the urgent need to rethink how civic bodies integrate resilience and foresight into every layer of urban planning.
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