Mid-Day Opinion: Everything is back to normal

Vehicles make their way through a waterlogged road after heavy rainfall, at Vasai-Virar in Palghar district on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. Pic/PTI

On July 26, 2005, I found myself stranded at an office for two days after 944 mm of rain fell upon the Bombay metropolitan region. It had begun pouring a day before, and continued for the next 48 hours, leaving behind scenes that wouldn't seem out of place in any movie about an apocalypse. I remember being safe, happy to be with colleagues whose company I enjoyed, and protected from the worst of what was going on outside. Unfortunately, thousands of people in the city weren't as lucky. Approximately 1094 died, water lines were contaminated, there were losses amounting to over USD $100 million, and it took months for everything to get back to a semblance of normality.

When the anger had died down, experts cited everything from poor storm-water drainage systems and unplanned development to climate change and the destruction of mangroves for what had occurred. Never again, said the people we had elected to represent us; this will never happen because we will learn from these mistakes and transform the city.

Now, a little over two decades after that event, I am happy to see that everything has changed for the better. Despite the shocking amount of water that has poured down from the heavens during this monsoon season, Bombay has functioned like clockwork, and no one appears to be in trouble. A few lives have admittedly been lost, but we have been assured that this isn't something we should be worried about. If we avoid standing near trees, walking on the streets, taking public transport, taking private transport, and staying indoors until the sun comes out, we will have successfully lived through another powerful monsoon.

This may seem like a trivial detail, but it is a sign of bigger things. According to a research paper published by the journal Nature in August 2025, several million people in Bombay will face threats caused by flooded waters due to rising sea levels by 2050. In other words, going by how well we have managed to stay afloat in the time between the flood of 2005 and now, we have every reason to be optimistic about our children's future. It appears to be safe in the hands of the children of today's politicians who will inevitably take over from their fathers.

Everything we were warned about in 2005 has been taken care of by some of the smartest, most competent people in Maharashtra, which explains why there hasn't been much anxiety this time, despite the unrelenting rain in the first half of July. Those faulty storm-water drainage systems have clearly been fixed over the past 21 years, restricting flooding to just a few small pockets of Vasai and Virar. Roads everywhere else have been clean and clear in keeping with one of the stated objectives of the Swachh Bharat Mission.

Unplanned development also appears to be a thing of the past, which is why all construction in Bombay is now conducted with the utmost transparency and attention to detail. I would be surprised to find a single builder who can be accused of bending any rules or putting any area at risk of flooding. This is now a city where environmentalists call the shots and where nothing begins without the approval of certified experts.

It's also nice to see that the pesky mangrove issue has finally been dealt with. The Versova-Bhayandar Coastal Road project may be a minor hiccup on that front, given that more than 45,000 mangrove trees along the western coast will have to be diverted, but I think we should look at this from the right perspective. If mangroves are lost in one area, the implication is that another area gains them, so I'm not sure why citizens, activists, or fisherfolk are upset about this. It's obvious that what this city needs are more roads and less traffic, rendering the issue of ecological destruction moot.

As for climate change, we have clearly forgotten about MCW, the three-day event held in February that saw so many of Maharashtra's leaders talk about planned sustainability projects. They even launched an initiative titled ‘Be Cool' which went a long way towards reassuring me that the future of Bombay was bright. I was worried a while ago after reading a report from the UN's World Meteorological Organization that our world was on track for a 2.3°C to 2.8°C temperature rise this century. Now, going by how everything has been managed during this year's rains, I see I have nothing to worry about.

When he isn't ranting about all things Mumbai, Lindsay Pereira can be almost sweet. He can be contacted at www.lindsaypereira.com
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The views expressed in this column are the individual's and don't represent those of the paper.