If tomorrow ever comes
BMC plans to bridge future
Sanjay Sawant
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is already looking ahead. It will cough up Rs100 crore and build road overbridges (ROBs) on the Milan, Khar and Andheri subways which unfailingly get clogged during rains every year.
Additional Commissioner Shrikant Singh told DNA that ROBs will be built on the three subways with top priority and a formal permission will be sought from the Railway authorities.
Singh said the rains in the last three days had exceeded estimates of the civic body. “High tides compound our problems. The BMC is hard-pressed for time when it comes to clear logged water, because the next high tide is already round the corner,” he said.
Singh said such was the flooding in these subways that even constant pumping out of water did not help. Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Satish Mathur said the traffic along these subways was close to a 10,000 vehicles a day. “Diverting traffic is no solution since it creates jams elsewhere. ROBs will sure ease the traffic problem,” he said.
A senior BMC official said, “ROBs are very important. These subways connect eastern and western suburbs and these areas record maximum rains. You can at best drain out 25mm of water per hour against the 100mm rains that lash these areas at the same time.”
Mayor takes a flying toss into murky Mithi waters
He was overseeing major evacuation drive on the banks
DNA Correspondent
MUMBAI: Mumbaikars will long remember the heavy rainfall on Tuesday, but mayor Datta Dalvi, who took a flying toss into the filthy Mithi river, will find it harder to erase from memory.
As s a result of the heavy rain, the Mithi river was swollen and had crossed the danger mark and 4,200 people had to evacuated from the river banks, besides more than 3,000 from low lying areas. The BMC was forced to evict 500 families from Kranti Nagar, and first citizen Datta Dalvi went to supervise operations along the river, from Bail Bazaar to Kranti Nagar in Kurla. Municipal commissioner Johny Joseph also visited the site.
Dalvi accompanied the fire brigade rescue team in a boat, but at 2.45pm the boat upturned. The boat’s engine seized because a piece of cloth was trapped in it. But because of the strong current, the boat slammed into a nearby bridge and overturned. “It was an accident. I panicked and jumped from the boat, but caught the bars of the overhead bridge just in time. I was wearing a life jacket and am good swimmer. The disaster relief work will continue and I’ll be back here tomorrow,” Dalvi insisted.
Chief Fire Officer AD Zandwal said the accident was because of the strong Mithi current. In fact, a rescue team member who tried to assist the mayor fell into the river himself and had to swim ashore. Shiv Sena stalwarts in the BMC Sunil Prabhu, Ravindra Waikar and Surendra Bagalkar also assisted in the operations.
What worked
SMS warnings on rain alert
Round-the-clock monitoring of disaster management cell
Police patrol at critically waterlogged areas
Extra 100 BEST buses which came on roads by afternoon
Traffic cops, guiding motorists to take diversions
Spirited Mumbaikars helping people caught in rains
What didn’t
Panic pictures on round-the-clock TV channels created more chaos
26/7 fear made people stay home
Irregular train services brought more traffic on roads
Over 10,000 MTNL lines out of order in suburbs
Power failures disrupting life in suburbs
Taxis and autos refusing to take passengers
