Mumbai Coastal Road Tunnels Leak Weeks Before Monsoon

Just weeks before the onset of the monsoon, the Mumbai Coastal Road’s tunnels have started leaking. On Monday evening, water was seen dripping from the tunnel roofs, while numerous dark spots marked the walls where paint had chipped off due to dampness. Drip lines extended from these dark spots to the floor, and the periphery of the holes appeared visibly damp. Water had pooled on the coastal road near the Marine Drive-end of the tunnel, around 100 meters from its exit.

Girish Nikam, the chief engineer of the coastal road project, revealed that the leaks have been occurring since Sunday morning. “There is dampness in the wall that has been coming through the construction joints. We do not know exactly why this is happening as we are yet to check because traffic is on till 11 pm. We will be doing some grouting to arrest the leak,” Nikam explained. He mentioned that these minor leaks were expected due to the joints connecting the tunnel, but the exact cause is yet to be determined. Despite efforts to stop the leaks since they first appeared on Sunday morning, the situation worsened by Monday.

An official involved in the tunnel’s construction noted that the structure had been waterproofed using grouting and suggested that additional grouting might be necessary, although further inspection is required to make a definitive assessment.

This is not the first water-related issue for the coastal road project. On April 10, tidal waters entered the Haji Ali Coastal Road’s pedestrian underpass during high tide. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had then promised to devise solutions to prevent water accumulation, including constructing a hump at the mouth of the pedestrian underpass and installing a 1,200 mm pipe parallel to the pathway from the promenade towards the seaside.