Cyclone Tauktae: Gymkhanas in Mumbai are now swimkhanas

Outside the Hindu Gymkhana on Monday. Pic/Suresh Karkera

Every monsoon, the city's South Mumbai sunset boulevard, Marine Drive, becomes the go to destination for many. Pandemic restrictions over the last two years have punctured plans to gadabout at the Queen's Necklace. Even with the area always buffeted by strong winds and heavy rain, Monday was manic at another level.

Parsee Gymkhana building. Pic/Suresh Karkera

The Catholic Gymkhana's Covid-19 Care Centre moved six people from the ground floor to the first floor, "as the rain made our ground into a veritable swimming pool," said Norbert Pereira, Hon general secretary, Catholic Gymkhana. Pereira said that the BMC had put steel beds. "There are 50 beds on the ground floor and 30 in the badminton court. The BMC workers will eventually pump out the water. We are in the direct line of rain and winds; our grounds have seen huge flooding before. Usually, it is manageable during low tide, but high tide makes things a little more difficult," Pereira added.

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At the Bhinmal Jain Sangh centre taking in Covid-19 patients at the Hindu Gymkhana, "the cyclone Tauktae's fury has come as a huge wake up call and proved a catalyst for our monsoon preparations. We have already bought rainwear for our staffers at the centre, preponing these essential purchases, which were scheduled for the last week of May," said Mukesh Vardhan, convenor of the Hindu Gymkhana Covid-19 centre.

Vardhan continued, "We have 100 beds, with oxygen facilities for 30 and the remaining 70 are regular ones. We have been working since early Monday morning because of the heavy rain. The patients, about 38, are housed in the building, not on the grounds. We do have spare oxygen cylinders, as we are not taking any chances because of the rain, which may cause delays." Vardhan clarified that though the name of the unit is Jain Sangh Centre, the free facility is for all communities.

Catholic Gymkhana

He further said, "We have stocked up on veggies and kitchen supplies as we do not know what will happen in the next two-three days." With the open grounds of the gymkhanas turning into lakes, ponds and pools, dexterous dealing and deferring original plans is the need of the day.

It is a full stop for the Parsee Gymkhana, in line with its siblings on the Marine Drive stretch. A vaccination centre was to open on the premises on Monday, but Cyclone Tauktae has announced its impending arrival with grim intent, "and nature's fury is such that nobody can contend with," said Khodadad Yazdegardi, vice-president and cricket secretary, Parsee Gymkhana, and Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) apex council member.

Yazdegardi further said, "We will now have a waterproof shamiana and a two-feet ramp so that people can walk up to the centre where we will have registrations and some formalities on the ground floor. On Monday in fact, we were supposed to open, and our mayor Kishori Pednekar and South Mumbai MP Arvind Sawantji were to be here for the inauguration, but plans have gone cartwheeling." The vice-president said that the Parsee Gymkhana vaccination centre would be a value addition to South Mumbai's get-the-shot landscape. "We hear that the city will soon get more vaccines, so it is great if we have more vaccination centres too, to truly broaden and amp up the Covid-19 jab drive," finished Yazdegardi.