I have developed a phobia of monsoon: Mahesh Narvekar

As a child Mahesh Narvekar now chief officer of the disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC loved the rains He would visit the beaches with his friends and watch raindrops fall on the windowpane of his house with rapt attention Now he wakes up in the middle of the night to see if the sky is overcast and watches satellite images whenever he is free On a Monday evening when I meet Narvekar who has been heading this cell since 2008 at the municipal headquarters he tells me ldquoNow my neighbours complain to me about potholeridden roads I have developed a phobia of monsoonrdquoMumbai monsoon special Reign in the rainsMahesh Narvekar is high on life and motivates his team members with his witty repartees PicsSatyajit DesaiUnderstandably so since every year the BMC has to face public wrath thanks to potholeridden roads and water clogging But over the course of time Narvekar has learnt to take it in his stride He says ldquoWorking in the disaster management cell is a tough job Irsquom the one point contact for senior civic officials so I always have to be alert My first year in this department was terrible I started asking myself if I should continue But I have been learning on the jobrdquoNarvekarrsquos department has to be on high alert as they address varied disasters including fire tree falls flooding and terror attacks etc During his sixyear tenure his team has tackled major events such as the 2611 terror attacks serial bomb blasts at Zaveri Bazaar 2011 fire at Mantralaya 2012 Naval Dockyard 2013 and Behrambaug 2013 He says ldquoMy team members have to maintain their calm while addressing distress calls from citizens They need to take down proper details such as the location extent of disaster and ensure that assistance is provided immediately If they donrsquot do so then the disaster will be aggravatedrdquoAbove and below The handson boss is seen here at the control room of BMCrsquos disaster management cell Pics Satyajit DesaiNarvekar a Science graduate from National College Bandra joined the BMC 23 years ago Starting off as a security officer he climbed the ladder and was a protocol officer before heading the disaster management cell ldquoThe biggest similarity between my earlier profile and current profile is that both involve coordination There are 38 types of disaster Every resource is different One needs to make the right call about which resource needs to be mobilised whererdquo he explainsAsk him what motivates him to handle this highpressure job and he says ldquoWe are instrumental in saving peoplersquos lives During the high tide on June 8 this year we deployed fire brigade on all the beaches and there wasnrsquot a single death in the city Last year with the help of other agencies such as the police etc there wasnrsquot a single death on the beach and we rescued 35 boys This gives me satisfactionrdquoItrsquos easy to presume that he hates the monsoon but he says ldquoIrsquom worried when it doesnrsquot rain Last year by this time Mumbai had received 40 per cent of rainfall This year we have received just onetwo per cent This is a cause for concernrdquoNarvekarrsquos passion for his job is apparent when he tells me that last year he completed his postgraduate diploma in disaster management from Indira Gandhi National Open University IGNOU He says ldquoItrsquos my dream to make Mumbai a disasterresilient city We are working towards it by setting up the cityrsquos first institute of disaster management at Parel It will start operations in the next six months or one year The institute will provide first responder training to schools colleges and nongovernment organisationsrdquoShouldering this huge responsibility takes a toll on Narvekarrsquos personal life but he admits that he gets ample support from his wife an Air India employee and daughter who is completing her final year of MBBS The Ganesha devotee who has been visiting the Siddhivinayak Temple at Prabhadevi since the last 25 years says ldquoWe usually talk more on the phone All three of us hardly meet But when we do we spend quality time togetherrdquo