Mumbai: Swollen Dahisar river ravages Sanjay Gandhi National Park

A road badly damaged by the rain. Pics/Satej Shinde

A swollen Dahisar river fed by unprecedented rains in the early hours of Sunday caused devastation at the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. While there was 3 feet of water inside the SGNP office, a spotted deer got washed away due to strong currents and was seen swimming on the premises of a flooded housing society.

A flooded ground-floor house

If extremely heavy rain inundated western suburbs like Andheri, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Malad, Kandivli and Borivali, the protected forest bore the brunt of swift-moving waters from the Dahisar river that originates from there.

SGNP Director and Chief Conservator of Forest G Mallikarjun said, "The heavy rainfall that started early on Sunday resulted in a lot of damage inside the Sanjay Gandhi National Park. At many places, the roads have been washed away and water entered our office and some staff quarters. Thankfully, there was no loss of human life."

The cement benches in the park lying in pieces

Many trees collapsed in the park, while a video of a spotted deer inside a residential complex went viral on social media. This is not the first time heavy rain has caused damages inside SGNP. The park has seen such a situation at least four times in the past few years.

Environmentalist Debi Goenka blamed inaction by SGNP officials for the mess. "Even though the state government had released funds for the construction of a new office at a higher location within the SGNP years ago, the money was returned unspent by the then director Vikas Gupta."

Also read: Mumbai taps go dry as water treatment plant gets flooded

A guard's cabin precariously balancing on one side

Goenka, the executive trustee at Conservation Action Trust, added, "What is more shocking is that Mr Gupta spent almost Rs 1 crore of public money in renovating one single rest house which is now undergoing major structural repairs. It is high time the government took strict action against officers, who through their acts of wilful negligence, put public property, including irreplaceable files and maps, at risk, and spend money lavishly on non-essential buildings whilst ignoring the serious issues of encroachments and conservation of SGNP."