Why do the same scenes emerge from Mumbai every time monsoon rains arrive?
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00:00Streets disappearing underwater, train tracks getting inundated, people wading through waist-high water.
00:07Why do these scenes keep happening in Mumbai?
00:09It's nothing new. Every year, every day, when it rains, the water fills up here.
00:14The British Era Drainage System
00:16Mumbai's stormwater drainage system dates back to the year 1860.
00:20It is a network of underground and surface drains which open into the sea.
00:25But when it rains a lot, or there is high tide, the drains aren't able to flush out water.
00:50These drains also collect sewage and silt,
00:52which makes it impossible for them to carry the flow of the water efficiently.
00:56In 2005, monsoon floods in Mumbai killed more than 1,000 people and destroyed about 14,000 homes.
01:03Topography
01:05Another reason for the financial capital's ineptitude at dealing with heavy monsoon rains
01:11is its location. It's surrounded by the Arabian Sea on three sides.
01:15The city is built on low-lying as well as high areas.
01:19Some of the low-lying areas are those that were reclaimed from the sea
01:22and joined to form the city.
01:24Some of these areas are Khar Subway, Andheri Subway, and Sayan.
01:29When it rains, water naturally flows into these areas and clogs up,
01:33only to drain out at its own pace after the rain stops.
01:37Construction and Urbanization
01:39Construction in the densely populated city takes away the land's natural ability to soak water.
01:49The water that used to go inside the buildings has been sucked out by the rain.
01:58The water that used to go inside the buildings has been sucked out by the rain.
02:0590% of water is drained through the drainage system,
02:08adding more pressure on it instead of percolating in the ground like many cities.
02:12To add to it, construction waste ends up in the drains.
02:16The rivers that run through Mumbai are not able to act as natural drains
02:20because of sewage that fills them up.
02:22This is both domestic and industrial waste.
02:26Illegal construction, encroachment, and pollution add pressure on the rivers,
02:30and the buffer space between the waterline and localities is lost.
02:34So when it rains, settlements get flooded.
02:46The solution lies in desilting or cleaning these water bodies
02:49so they can carry out water without any hurdles or clogging.
02:53Apart from that, the Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation
02:56was planning on reconstructing the drainage system in four areas.
03:00This work would involve installing iron grills,
03:03widening nalas, making box drains, and building retaining walls.
03:16you