October 31, 2025: In a major step toward sustainable urban development, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has announced plans to create 164 ‘sponge parks’ across Mumbai. The initiative aims to reduce flooding, recharge groundwater, and enhance the city’s climate resilience using nature-based solutions. These sponge parks will be developed on existing gardens and open plots without altering their basic design.
“Around 164 sponge parks will be created, and work on some has begun. The idea of sponge parks was first floated in 2021 under the government’s ‘Majhi Vasundhara’ project,” said Subhajit Mukherjee, founder of Mission Green Mumbai.
According to Additional Municipal Commissioner (Projects) Abhijit Bangar, “A proposal has been sent to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) outlining several flood mitigation measures, and sponge parks are part of it. These will include interventions in gardens such as changes in soil composition and additional water percolation space.”
The Rs 12,000-crore proposal includes 26 flood mitigation measures combining structural and non-structural solutions. Final approval and fund allocation from NDMA are expected before the next monsoon.
A pilot sponge park near Lallubhai Compound in Mankhurd is already under development with MMRDA’s approval. “Although the sponge parks will be created in some of the gardens, it is part of the larger project to prevent waterlogging,” added Ajit Ambi, Deputy Municipal Commissioner of Gardens.
Sponge parks act as engineered wetlands, designed to absorb, filter, and slowly release rainwater—replicating natural hydrological processes. Mumbai has experienced a 38% rise in very heavy rainfall over six years, with 24-hour precipitation averages climbing from 132 mm to 182 mm, intensifying urban flooding across the city.
Source: The Free Press Journal
