Mumbai Rains: Is BMC really ready for the monsoons?

Despite all the troubles that the heavy showers brought on Monday, the monsoon isn't all bad, as these boys demonstrate with their impromptu rain dance at Hariom Nagar in Mulund. Pic/Sameer Markande

Just four days after the BMC told the Bombay High Court it was ready for the monsoon, a series of disasters across the city have washed away all the false claims Santacruz recorded 231 mm of rainfall from 8 am on Sunday to 8 am on Monday, whereas Colaba recorded 99 mm. This was followed by 48.3 mm in Santacruz and 43 mm in the island city until 8.30 pm last night. Western suburbs, such as Borivli and Kandivli, saw heavy rainfall.

Waterlogging woes
According a report from the BMC, nine places in the city - Sion Road No.24, Maheshwari Udyan, Samaj Mandir Hall at Pratiksha Nagar, Chembur Phatak area, Morarji Nagar at Filter Pada, Milan Subway, Malad Subway, National College in Bandra and Siddharth Nagar in Goregaon - witnessed waterlogging and traffic jams.

Pumping problems
The civic body boasted that it had improved water flow at 120-odd areas. The Corporation deployed 22 de-watering pumps to cut down on flooding. However, a contractor failed to provide the required diesel to keep the pumps operational at Chamdawadi nullah. Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner, issued orders to send the contractor a show cause notice seeking explanation on why should BMC not put him on the black list.

Despite all these incidents and several tragic mishaps reported across the city, the BMC claimed that everything was under control. Uddhav Thackeray, chief of the ruling party Shiv Sena, boasted that the rainfall received by Mumbai was even more than Cherrapunji (touted as one of the wettest places on Earth), but there were still no problems.

Also read: Mumbai rains: Bus driver rescues drowning kids, gets washed away