1. Things Have Improved, Not As Bad As In 2005: Ajoy Mehta
Despite receiving large scale criticism from Mumbaikars for once again failing to save the city from the onslaught of the rains, BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta nonchalantly says, “Situation is better than it was during the 2005 deluge.” On Tuesday, when rains wreaked havoc in the megapolis almost bringing it down on its knees, Mehta was manning the fort at city’s civic headquarters with four of his additional municipal commissioners.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and City Guardian Minister Subhash Desai also kept a close watch on the situation. We met with the man who is responsible for keeping the city-that-never-sleeps running smoothly, while he was desperately trying to save the essential services like rail, bus and air, from crumbling.
Q: Why did the city again come to a standstill?
Ajoy Mehta: The rainfall has been unprecedented. On an average there was 180 mm in Mumbai within ten hours - from 8 am to 6 pm. 18 areas in Mumbai witnessed more than 200 mm rain. In SWD works in Wadala, the area received a whopping 303 mm of rain, which is again unprecedented.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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2. Mumbai Rains: Downpour Breaks All Records for August in 10 years
The rainstorm which hit Mumbai on Tuesday was the most intense weather event it has experienced since the deluge of July 26 in 2005. The city this time received 316 mm rainfall in 12 hours between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, higher than for any 24-hour period in August in a decade. In 2005, it was 944-mm downpour that had submerged the city.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast similar conditions for Wednesday as well. IMD officials said the torrential rains were a combination of two weather systems - one coming in from South Rajasthan "owing to which there is cloudiness over the west coast" and another, a low pressure zone over south east of Orissa. "Further enhancement in rain activity is expected for the next 48-72 hours," said K.S. Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region), IMD.
(Source: Times of India)
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3. BEST Sails Through Mumbai Floods
With trains coming to a standstill, BEST bus service lived up to its name and bailed out commuters. On a day when Mumbai’s lifeline let down its commuters, its second ‘BEST’ transport service bailed them out. As torrential downpour flooded tracks and sunk the suburban railway network on Tuesday, BEST buses proved to be the saviour for lakhs of Mumbaikars, braving the chaotic traffic situation on the roads to reach them home safely albeit a little late.
The transport service, which has run into huge losses and has been in the news of late for all the wrong reasons, redeemed its image with the authorities plying over 100 additional buses besides the 3,400 vehicles that run on the roads daily. Although some buses broke down, the number was few.
(Source: Mumbai Mirror)
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4. Mumbai Rains: 5 Feared Dead, People Advised to Stay Indoors as More Floods Likely
Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of Maharashtra for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, severely affecting normal life and paralysing the lifelines -- local train and bus services -- in the state capital and leading the state government and civic authorities to sound a high alert. Five people were feared drowned in Thane due to flooding caused by heavy downpour, said an official of Regional Disaster Management Cell of Thane Municipal Corporation.
The Met Department on Tuesday warned of more 'heavy intermittent spells' in the next 24 hours in Mumbai and its satellite cities where incessant downpour has thrown normal life out of gear. The Mumbai police have asked people who have got stranded due to heavy rainfall to dial police emergency no 100 or send message on their Twitter handle to seek any kind of assistance. Thousands of Mumbaikars were stranded on railway stations and other places due to disruption in train services, water-logging on streets and slow movement of road traffic.
(Source: Mid-Day)
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5. Rain Playing Damper, Many Defer 5-day Ganpati Visarjan
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Devotees who host five-day Ganpatis were in a quan dary about whether to head out for visarjan on a very rainy Tuesday. The rain waterlogged roads and triggered massive traffic snarls, and rumours on social media about the authorities discouraging visarjan did not help matters. GSB King's Circle, the richest Ganpati mandal in the city , heads out for immersion this day . Trustee R G Bhat was keeping tabs on the weather report, police and BMC alerts. "We will not venture out till the water recedes. The roads in Sion-Matunga are flooded.We travel to Girgaum Chowpatty for visarjan and the situation is similar across the city . We will consult our spiritual guru on steps to take in case we are delayed," he said.
In Sanpada, Navi Mumbai, Ramdas Walunj, whose fiveday Ganpati is immersed off Palm Beach Road, was in a predicament. "The roads are waterlogged and traffic is clogged, but we must go, there is no option. I have four brothers, and normally the entire family attends visarjan. Today , even rickshaws are not available, so my brothers are unable to come over. I have a car, but it can accommodate only five; the extended family won't be able to accompany us."
(Source: Times of India)
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6. Mumbai Metro Comes to City's Rescue, Adds Additional Services to Cater to Passengers
While several modes of transport like the suburban local train, bus, auto and taxi came to a standstill owing to heavy rains and water-logged streets, Mumbai Metro ran additional services to between Versova-Andheri-Ghatkopar Metro-1 corridor. According to Mumbai Metro One Private Limited (MMOPL), that operates Metro-1, as several offices were shut early, crowd gathered at Metro stations during non-peak hours.
MMOPL said that it had run additional Metro services to cater the footfall due to heavy rains. Earlier in the day, MMOPL tweeted, "With Mumbai's trademark rains giving us their best, so are we at #MumbaiMetro! Still running on schedule just like our beloved city!"
(Source: DNA)
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7. Vehicles Coming from Pune, Goa Asked Not to Enter Mumbai
Vehicles coming from Goa and Pune have been advised not to enter the rain-battered Mumbai today as a precautionary measure to avoid a grid-locked situation in the megapolis, the police said. The Navi Mumbai Police has issued directives to its traffic wing to send back cars, buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles and not allow them until the traffic situation in Mumbai normalises.
As torrential rains pounded the financial capital and adjoining districts of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Raigad, police is taking precautionary measures to avoid any untoward incident and ease traffic on the roads, official said. "As vehicular traffic condition in Mumbai is worsening, vehicles travelling towards Mumbai from Goa-Mumbai highway and Pune-Mumbai highway are advised not to enter Mumbai as they will get stuck after the Vashi toll plaza (in Navi Mumbai)," Commissioner of Police, Navi Mumbai, Hemant Nagrale said.
(Source: Times of India)
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