Mumbai Rains: How rapidly developing Vasai could vanish very soon

Its been a grim one week for residents of VasaiVirar Situated in Palghar district 30 km north of Mumbai the city mdash Maharashtras fifth largest mdash has been fighting a tough battle against torrential downpour which left several areas under water for nearly five daysThe situation was so deplorable that for the first time in its history the Western Railway was forced to collectively summon the National Disaster Response Force NDRF Indian Navy Army the Coast Guard along with the Railway Protection Force to rescue over 2000 passengers stranded in trains midway due to waterlogging on July 10 mdash the day the region received 240 mm rainfallOn Thursday two days after rain stopped several areas continued to be severely waterlogged and had no electricity supply Meanwhile three people lost their lives after drowning and hundreds of residents were forced to remain home boundResidents wade through kneehigh water near H Colony Vasai West on Friday PicsHanif PatelFar from the hubbub of Mumbai this fastdeveloping region which comes under the VasaiVirar City Municipal Corporation VVMC was drowning and any attempt to save it appeared foolhardy For oldtime residents whove witnessed the transformation of this green land into concrete the flooding situation is new and alarmingLocal experts and environmentalists however blame unchecked dumping of sand in wetlands and haphazard construction activities for residential and commercial spaces in VasaiVirar mdash the new address for the up and coming middleclass mdash as the reason behind the slow crumble the city witnessed this monsoonSatish Lokhande commissioner VVMC vs Sameer Vartak activistHow residents sufferedBefore VasaiVirar got its own municipal corporation in July 2009 it was already a chosen destination for real estate sharks due to its proximity to the Maximum City Located along the banks of Vasai creek which separates the region from Mumbai and MiraBhayandar the agrarian belt comprising Vasai Nalasopara Naigaon and Virar soon transformed into a residential hub This change is evident in the fourfold increase of the population in the short span of 20 years mdash from three lakh in 1991 to over 12 lakh as per the 2011 CensusOn July 9 VasaiVirar witnessed the first heavy downpour of the season Several parts of Vasai and Nalasopara unexpectedly began flooding with lowlying areas along the creek facing the biggest risk In Vasai Suncity Gass 100 Feet Road Samta Nagar Evershine City were waterlogged while Achole Road Chheda Nagar and Samta Nagar in Nalasopara were also inundated with flood water For Sameer Dudhwani who resides on the second floor of DG Nagar Housing Society in Vasai West where water levels had reached four feet the heavy showers brought with it unexpected tragedySameer Dudhwani right shows a photograph of his ailing 65yearold mother Dilshad who died on her way to the hospital on July 10 as he was unable to get her out of their waterlogged residential colony DG Nagar Housing Society in Vasai West in time for her dialysis appointment PicsHanif Patel Dudhwani who resides with his wife and parents lost his ailing 65yearold mother Dilshad because he could not take her to the hospital on time My mother was on dialysis and would get it done thrice a weekShe had an appointment for July 10 and we were supposed to take her to the hospital but couldnt step out As her condition became worse my neighbours and I decided to lift her on our shoulders and wade out of the colony Dudhwani recalled Outside they struggled to find transport Finally a tempo driver helped us take her to the hospital But she died before reaching the hospital he saidSameer DudhwaniWhat made it worse was the fact that they could not bury her immediately due to lack of transport on the waterlogged roads We managed to bury the body only the following day recounted a griefstricken Dudhwani Rosario DSouza a resident of 100 Feet Road said the fire brigade officials from VVMC were a godsend as they helped him drop his nine monthpregnant wife who was in labour to the hospital in an inflatable boatRosario DSouza a resident of 100 Feet Road said fire brigade officials from VVMC helped him drop his wife who was in labour to the hospital in an inflatable boatThe VasaiNalasoparaVirar rail stretch on WR was also severely affected with 400 mm water on the tracks by Tuesday morning Passenger trains had to be stopped as water levels increased Several outstation trains including the Vadodara Bhuj Bandra Lokshakti and Jamnagar express trains were halted Passengers remained stuck for hours together without food water or any helpAs the situation continued to get worse AK Gupta general manager WR rallied for help from all possible quarters By late afternoon teams from the NDRF started rescuing stranded local train passengers in inflatable boats Meanwhile RPF teams reached out to passengers on the express trains They had formed a human chain and taken out many passengers but we also sought the help of the Navy for transport vehicles that could run in water said Ravinder Bhakar WRs chief public relations officerWR on Tuesday called the NDRF to help rescue passengers stranded in local trains after the tracks were submerged in 400 mm waterPoor town planningAccording to bird enthusiast and Vasai resident Amol Lopes the VasaiVirar belt has always received heavy rainfall It rains a lot in this region every year but its the first time that we have witnessed flooding to such an extent said Lopes who has been living in Vasai for the last 37 yearsThe main reason is that a lot of construction bodies have recently started dumping sand and debris in the wetland areas We have a lot of lakes and small ponds in Vasai and Virar which serve as important channels to carry rain water to the nullahs and the sea Due to the unchecked dumping there is no natural reservoir for the rain water causing townships to choke In fact several residents have reclaimed these wetlands and built houses over them Lopes said citing areas such as Gogte and Umela salt pans and Vasai Suncity Road that are at risk due to this activityFasle Hoque Qureshi 33 fourth from rightacircAcircu00c2u0080Acircu00c2u0088is a resident of Ambali Nagar On July 10 he arranged biscuit packets for the stranded passengers of the Rajkot Trivandrum Express The next day Hoque who also owns a restaurant had food cooked and delivered to residents of Sant Jalaram Bapu Nagar Among those who helped him were Farukh Pathan a retired government official advocate Ashok Mishra and local residents Usman Khan Sandip Shukla and Jaiprakash Environmentalist Stalin D from NGO Vanashakti raised similar concerns Check the maps of Vasai and Virar and you will realise why it is going underwater Vasai and Virar are natural floodplains and not at all fit for townships built on raised reclaimed land Yet authorities continue to plan newer projects due to this illegal reclamation of land and destruction of ecologically important wetlands and mangrove forests are rampant No wetland has been spared and those unbuilt are also earmarked Citizens dont have a choice as they cannot afford housing elsewhere he saidAccording to local activist Dominica Dabrey at present there are two major colonies under construction in Vasai West which are blocking the path of the rain water that flows through a nullah The local corporation built a boundary wall near the nullah narrowing its width and causing excess rain water to overflow said DabreyAnother local activist Sameer Vertak also showed midday several spots in Nalasopara where construction next to nullahs was rampant He also pointed out a spot where debris had been dumped in a narrow gutter Part of the Ulhas river locally known as Sopara river which starts from the hills in the eastern part of Vasai and ends in the Vasai creek has also been encroached and diverted Vertak saidAlso while the population in these areas has increased manifold the drainage system is as it was 15 years ago The corporation has to increase the width of the drainage culvert and clean them regularly he saidBlame the rain godsFather Francis DBritto who first rang the alarm bells in 1989 when he approached the local tehsildar office of Vasai demanding that they chart out a plan for the townshipsaid At the time I had warned them that if they did not tackle the situation soon this place would drown Look whats happening nowStalin DLocal MLA Hitendra Thakur said that Vasai recorded the highest rainfall till July 10 this season Last year we recorded a total of 1000 mm rainfall from the beginning of the monsoon season till July 10 But this year we received around 1700 mm rainfall he saidWhen contacted Satish Lokhande commissioner of VVMC also claimed that VasaiVirar had received abnormal rainfall this year Also due to the high tide the water levels increased in Vasai creek causing flooding in lowlying areas like Tulinj Central Park and Deen Dayal Nagar he said Lokhande admitted that the drainage capacity in these areas was poorHe however denied that unauthorised construction and encroachment in the Vasai area was responsible for the floodlike situation The drainage culvert carrying water from the city is very narrow It needs to be enlarged and two new culverts need to be built But the culvert is on railway land Our corporation is working on getting requisite permissionsChulna villagers rescue orphansOver the last one week residents of Chulna village in Vasai West have come to the rescue of girls from a nearby hostel Fatima Mata Convent The hostel is home to 75 girls most of whom are orphans During the heavy showers that crippled Vasai the area around the ashram was severely waterlogged and the girls were forced to stay indoors The residents however decided to make room for them in their own houses Each villager adopted three to four girls We have kept them at our homes where we are taking care of them We have even arranged bus services for them so that they can go to school as usual They will be with us till the situation gets better said Asmita DCostaWith inputs by Rajendra B AklekarAlso ReadMumbai Rains VasaiVirar limp back to normalcy after delugeCatch up on all the latest Crime National International and Hatke news here Also download the new midday Android and iOS apps to get latest updates