Mumbai on alert for heavy showers

[vengabeats]

MUMBAI: India's commercial capital was on alert for very heavy rains on Thursday, almost a year after a sharp cloudburst crippled the metropolis for days and killed hundreds of people in the region.

Weather officials have warned of heavy showers in the next 30 hours, saying the monsoon rains, vital for the economy, have reached Mumbai 10 days ahead of schedule.

The alert put authorities on notice as they scurried to check drainage systems, traffic management and the suburban railway that is a vital lifeline for most of Mumbai's 17 million people.

"We have prior warning and we are prepared this time. We had no warning last year," said Johny Joseph, Mumbai's top civic official.

But memories of last year's deluge returned late on Wednesday after a brief spell of rains brought parts of Mumbai to a halt. Some roads were submerged under water and trains were delayed.

"The first rains and already our infrastructure cannot cope. What will happen in the next two months?" asked Sumana Dey, a regular commuter on Mumbai's suburban trains who was stuck in the rains for two hours on Wednesday.

Thousands of people waded through flooded streets and railway tracks to reach their destinations and dirty rainwater entered homes in some northern neighbourhoods. Parts of the city went without power.

Last July, two days of heavy rains exposed the underdeveloped infrastructure and dismal emergency response in India's richest city that shutdown for almost a week.

Millions of dollars have been sanctioned to overhaul Mumbai's 150-year-old drainage system, but experts say flooding from rain is difficult to prevent because builders, in league with politicians, had built on wetlands, the city's natural drainage system.



Source: Times Of India

[themaharana]

as per MET dept, colleges andschools shd remain closed on 13 14 and 15 june.

[vishal_1986]

>
>> BMC has decided to shut 122 municipal schools in 179 low-lying areas
on
>>
>> days when the sea level is expected to rise higher than four metres
>> this
>>
>> monsoon.
>>
>>
>> According to the Met department, there will be 18 such days this
>> monsoon.
>>
>> BMC education officer NK Shitole said, "The schools will remain shut
on
>>
>> the specified days, as flooding is likely. Teachers of these schools
>> will
>>
>> be required to make up for lost days by taking additional classes on
>>
>> Saturdays."
>>
>>
>> BMC officials said this step was taken since many students were
>> stranded
>>
>> on July 26 and other high-tide days last year.
>>
>>
>> "Even private schools in low-lying areas will be asked to remain
shut
>>
>> during a rain alert," Shitole said.
>>
>>
>> BMC's education department officials said they were finalising a
plan
>> to
>>
>> ensure the safety of school children in case of floods.
>>
>>
>> "We are coordinating with various govern- ment agencies and NGOs to
>>
>> provide food and shelter to children stranded during floods. Also,
>>
>> physical trainers of all municipal schools have been given training
in
>>
>> emergency rescue operations," said Shitole.
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> The danger days
>>
>>
>> June
>>
>> - June 13 (1.43 pm)
>>
>> - June 14 (2.26 pm)
>>
>> - June 15 (3.11 pm)
>>
>> July
>>
>> - July 12 (1.23 pm)
>>
>> - July 13 (2.05 pm)
>>
>> - July 14 (2.48 pm)
>>
>> - July 15 (3.31 pm)
>>
>> - July 16 (4.13 pm)
>>
>> August
>>
>> - August 9 (12.16 pm)
>>
>> - August 10 (12.56 pm)
>>
>> - August 11 (1.36 pm)
>>
>> - August 12 (2.17 pm)
>>
>> - August 13 (2.58 pm)
>>
>> September
>>
>> - September 7 (11.48 am)
>>
>> - September 8 (12.27 pm)
>>
>> - September 9 (12.52 am and 1.05 pm)
>>
>> - September 10 (1.38 am and 1.42 pm)
>>
>> - September 11 (2.25 am and 2.20 pm)

[dynaemilse]

This is a time to order food online & get it delivered to home.

moreover Mumbai doesn't have a good drainage system. So the rain water logging happens. Making water overflow everywhere.

[rockanroll]

strangely whenever bmc 's msg comes saying heavy showers it never rains