In the last few days, when I could not write blogs, not much happened politically of great importance except for the merger of Public sector banks and Congress’s political vendetta comments when Karnataka Ex minister D Sivakumar was arrested by ED in money laundering case after questioning him for three days.
Now for the other major happening
So once again Mumbaikars were let down by Brihanmumbai Mahanagarpalika (BMC) and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority (MMRDA) when heavy downpour happened in Mumbai and adjoining area yesterday ( 4th Sep 2019). It has proved again and again that these agencies have not learnt any lessons from the un precedent rainfall which occurred on 26th July 2005. Yesterday the intensity of rainfall was not like July 2005, but the scenario was almost identical, as nothing was moving. Traffic came to standstill due to flooding of roads, suburban trains came to halt as tracks were flooded with water, flights were either cancelled or delayed considerably .Only thing that was working was Metro train route , which run overhead.
Now if you consider rainfall, it was only 217 mm between 8.30 am 08.30 pm, but the affect of this rain fall left devastating affect on the daily routine life of all Mumbaikars. In today’s news paper, I could read numerous tales regarding how the Mumbaikars suffered yesterday, but one thing which is really admirable is the spirit of Mumbaikars. You could see people helping strangers on the roads and offering helping hands in whatever capacity they could.
BMC and MMRDA always make a claim about their preparedness for the monsoon season but like every year this year also their claim proved to be the hollowed one. Even 15 mm of rainfall in an hour leads to roads and tracks being flooded, affecting the routine life of Mumbaikar. On top of that there are many infra work being carried on the roads of Mumbai, this also lead to flooding of the roads etc, as debris from these infra projects generally clogs the drains, which results in flooding. Presently if you go to any major road, you will find Metro construction work is being carried out, which is one of the main reasons. Some times I feel that govt has erred by starting so many Metro construction works simultaneously.
One more thing I always fail to understand the working of Indian Meteorological Dept (IMD). Whenever they predict heavy to very heavy rains for the particular day, then on that day there is hardly any rain or very light showers. Govt on their weather forecast issues the order for the closure of school and colleges on that day. This has happened three times during this monsoon season ,inclusive of today, school and Jr colleges have been closed and there is hardly any rain since this morning.
There is a small river called Mithhi which is flowing in the suburban parts of Mumbai and every year BMC and other govt agencies spend crores of Rupees to clean the river, which is generally full with plastic garbage, which chokes the flow of river due to blockages. The reason for this is always attributed to people living on the banks of this river. Some times I fail to understand, why the govt is not shifting this tenements to somewhere else and barricade the banks of this river, as in every heavy shower there is danger of flooding due to this river.
Now coming to my personal experience of yesterday. I had to move out of my place because I had my monthly appointment in Diabetes clinic and to reach the said clinic I had to travel by road and metro network. I could reach the pace safely, but while returning when I came out of Metro station to reach my home, the scene which I saw on the road was in total chaos, with almost knee deep water at certain places and no conveyance available to go home. I decided to walk the distance of little more than 3 Km in heavy rain. There was total traffic jam, as at the next road junction there was water flowing in full force, like a river on rampage. I was literally afraid to cross that stream of flowing water, in the end I was helped by a young lady and gentleman in crossing. Fortunately after walking more for about 150 meters, I could get a bus which was going near my place,( about 300 meters away) and finally reached home. I will always be indebted to that young lady and the gentleman who helped me. This is called spirit of Mumbaikars, when unknown people help you at such times.
Waiting for your views/feed backs/comments on this blog.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
5th Sept 2019.
R. N. Mungale.
Mumbaikars are great!