Mumbai devasted? Not yet

26 July, 2005
Unprecendented rains play havoc in Mumbai!

Ok, if that doesn't give the shivers, here's some trivia to put the point across:

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Average rainfall in Mumbai - 150 mm
Drainage system in mumbai designed for handling rains upto - 350 mm
Highest rain received at Cherrapunji - around 850 mm
Mumbai that day (26 July) - 944 mm !!!
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Looking at these figures probably gives an idea of the wide-spread havoc this rain could very easily cause... and sadly.... it did.

~Western Express Highway....

That my uncle was stranded on his way home and didn't reach home till 40 hours; that my cousin held up at his friend's place for 2 days... are just few of the mild stories among the numerous horrifying experiences that the city faced.

~A road that became a raging river

~People returning back from their offices



Flashback:

Just a month ago, I started out for hometown Baroda. The whole of Gujarat was under the floods those few days, and hope being alive, I thought I should pass.... but was I wrong... Finally, I had to cut short my pilgrimage and return back to Bangalore after spending a day in Mumbai. Little had I known that this very place would be a victim of a deluge of much larger magnitude!

The weekend that came by, I spent almost whole of my time glued to the idiot box. The only buttons that I kept moving my fingers in my channel-surfing sequence were the news channels.
There was Star News showing me live pictures of Mumbaites fighting it out in the oceans of water; There was Aaj Tak in its usual sensationalizing tones - showing me scenes of the railway stations and angry/sad/weary commuters; There was this young reporter on NDTV reporting live from the airport, telling me what I already knew since night last - that the runway was totally flooded and shut-off.
The most ironical was the report about the phone-lines and mobile services going phut - and right after that I see a commercial of the ubiquitous Hutch pug telling me that where I'd go, their network would follow....

Giving hope a chance, I'd tried calling my cousins on the 26th and 27th, but these calls never got connected...

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Something about Panvel town:
Panvel is the last suburbial town of Mumbai on the harbour line - located in quiet district of Raigadh. I have fond memories of that place having spent good times (albiet only a couple of times) with my Masi's family there. A special treat is being with my tiny cousins Jhalak and Dhristi :-)

Ok, avoiding digression - here's what happened in this sleepy town on the 26th:
My masi lives on the 1st floor and the water had reached to just 3 steps to her door! Imagine the plight of the ground-floor residents, who had no option but abandon everything and rush up to the higher floors. The lights had already conked off across the town by then. The whole town spent 4 days without electricity, drinking water and fresh food - with people hostages in their very homes....

~Panvel town under water

And all this is just second-hand information.... Can't imagine what the guys out there were feeling like...

Just to put things in perspective... Any city in the world would get paralyzed if it gets over 35 inches of rain in a day! But Mumbai fought it out, and would be back and running on its feet sooner than you can imagine... Think of it - Washington gets stranded on its feet and the people stuck in their homes, if it receives more than 4-5 inches of snow. And Gawd, here we are talking about 37 inches of rain! Thats the spirit of Mumbai...

Footnote:

An ode to Mumbai, my city for 2 and a half years

I get knocked down
But I get up again
You're never going to keep me down....