Mumbai fails monsoon test again!

BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said that the people of Mumbai had been fooled when asked why his departments and other agencies had promised that they had made the city ready for the rains the cityrsquos first heavy showers yesterday clearly proved otherwise The city was brimming with confidence as it prayed in unison for the first showers assured by insistent claims of agencies like BMC MMRDA PWD and Railways that the roads and services were fighting fit for the monsoon Yesterday just 98 mm of rainfall washed away all traces of that misplaced confidence as the downpour laid bare the cityrsquos absolute lack of readiness for the deluge Yesterday just 98 mm of rainfall laid bare the cityrsquos absolute lack of readiness for the monsoon PicSatyajit Desai While Mumbai has been enjoying light drizzles over the past few days the monsoons made a grand entry yesterday with thunder and lightning accompanying incessant heavy downpour According to the Indian Meteorological Department IMD Mumbai Colaba received 393 mm of rainfall while Santacruz received 98 mm While the maximum temperature in these areas dipped to 31 degree Celsius and 323 degrees Celsius respectively the relative humidity was high at around 98 per cent Roads The roads were the first casualties Within a few hours of the showers waterlogging was reported in lowlying pockets of the city especially in the western suburbs There was flooding at the Milan Subway where highcapacity pumps were used to remove the water Stretches of the Western Express Highway WEH Eastern Express Highway EEH Dahisar Subway Marve Road Andheri Chakala Road were submerged Traffic was slow moving on these stretches Waterlogging was also reported at Hindmata in Parel PicRane Ashish ldquoThe claims of the BMC have been washed away with merely two days of rainfall All the precautionary measures undertaken by the BMC to ensure hasslefree monsoons hardly seem to be effective The problems that the Mumbaikars are facing are a slap in the face of the authorities who claimed that they had made the city ready for the monsoonsrdquo said Jasbeer Sanyal a resident of a western suburb Tree trouble It is customary every year for the BMC to prune or fell weakened trees However this practice hasnrsquot helped at all this year The disaster control management authority when contacted around 6 pm reported that 78 trees were reported to have fallen in different parts of the city The same officials at 7 pm revised the figure to 30 trees Not the BEST Bus routes were the first to be sacrificed to the rains ldquoDue to heavy downpour in central Mumbai the BEST buses plying on Dr Ambedkar Road between 545 am and 11am had to be diverted via Sewri and Dadar TT flyover to avoid waterlogged areas In the western suburbs BEST buses were diverted from Malad Subway via SV Road A bus got stuck in the subway leading to traffic congestion Buses like 345 281 460 were diverted and were running via the SV Roadrdquo said V Bagul public relations officer for BEST Slow cancelled trains Trains services were also disrupted though not suspended Central Railway PRO A K Singh admitted to problems saying ldquoTrains were delayed by 4045 minutes due to problems in the signals Twenty one trains were cancelled due the rains in the city However we had eight special trains running from CST to Panvel via Thane There was no waterlogging on the tracksrdquou00a0Sharat Chandrayan chief PR officer for Western Railways said ldquoThe trains were running 510 minutes late but on the day of megablock trains are expected to run 10 minutes late Rains as such did not affect the servicesrdquo Public lsquofooledrsquo BMC Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said ldquoWe received complaints of flooding from 53 roads which the respective ward officers are taking care of We have installed 220 pumps in the lowlying areas to avoid waterloggingrdquo Asked why the same of problems had resurfaced he said ldquoWe always try our level best so that the people are not inconvenienced but the situation depends upon the intensity of the rains and tidal action The highest tide was observed at 1 pm today measuring 423 metres We cannot accurately predict nature So if the people are being promised by any department that they have total control over potential situations then they are simply being fooledrdquo MMRDA humbly admitted to inadequacies Metropolitan Commissioner UPS Madan said ldquoIt is true that there are potholes on the roads that are under the maintenance of the MMRDA We have already taken temporary measures for the monsoon so the people donrsquot face any problemsrdquo Weather forecast ldquoThe total rainfall in Mumbai since June 1 stands at 1212 mm in Colaba and 1198 mm in Santacruz The skies will remain generally cloudy Rain and thundershowers will occur in the city and suburbs a few heavy spells are expected for the next 48 hoursrdquo said an official from the India Metrological Department IMD 98 mm Rainfall in Santacruz 39 mm Rainfall in Colaba