Flooding worries as work on nullah begins

KALYAN: The ongoing work of building a parking lot under the Smart City Project on the Jari Mari nullah behind the Kalyan ST depot has raised concerns of flooding in the station premises during the upcoming monsoon.

The work of laying pillars to cover the nullah has begun, while it still has waste dumped, blocking the water flow. The Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC) began the work of cleaning all the nullahs in its vicinity last week. This nullah is yet to be cleaned.

“The work of covering the nullahs has begun when it is about to rain. Why was the work not completed before the monsoon? When this nullah overflows, it leads to water logging in the station premises. The ongoing construction will only worsen the situation,” said Prasad Mehra, 38, who runs a shop nearby.

The compound wall of the ST depot has been demolished to cover the nullah. The MSRTC has raised concerns over water entering the depot if the work is not finished before it starts raining heavily.

Depot manager, Vijay Gaikwad, said,” If the work is not finished before the rain, it will lead to water logging inside the depot. They have demolished the wall to make way for the nullah and they have also assured to build a wall once the work is done. But, if the work is not completed, it will be troublesome.”

Tarun Juneja, executive engineer, KDMC, said, “The work of covering the nullah for creating parking spaces is under progress while the approval for the drawings of the parking spaces is pending.”

Anant Madgundi, executive engineer, KDMC, added, “We have cleaned most of the dirt in the nullah. Now, since the work is being undertaken, we have stopped cleaning there. If there is a requirement to clean, we will do it again as a part of the premonsoon cleaning work.”