The people of Mumbai have been asked to stay at home tomorrow after 15 days’ worth of rain in 24 hours left the city battered and struggling to cope. Large parts India’s financial capital were flooded and trains, buses and flights were badly hit.
Here are 10 developments in the story:
“We have advised people not to go out and remain indoors tomorrow,” said Mumbai’s civic body chief Ajoy Mehta on Friday as the city battled incessant rain and flooding in just the second week of monsoon.
A downpour of over 500 mm in 24 hours clogged the city’s outdated drainage system, capable of handling only a tenth of it. Confronting anger, Mr Mehta said: “”Something which has been going on for 10 years cannot be improved in one minute.”
As the MET department warned of heavy rain in the next 24 hours, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) urged citizens to stay away from beaches and avoid going too close to the Marine Drive sea wall.
All schools and the Bombay High Court were shut today. Flights were delayed and the city’s BEST buses altered their routes.
Rain covered tracks and crippled local train services, which are the lifeline of the city. Around 70-80 lakh people take local trains to work day. The railways asked commuters to travel “only in case of emergency.”
Massive traffic jams were reported across the city, especially in areas that are badly flooded including Dadar, Parel, Sion, Andheri, Jogeshwari and Santa Cruz. Residents complained that brand new water pumping stations on which the civic body spent 200 crores failed to work after being damaged by rocks.
