Rafts, not vehicles, have become the preferred mode of transportation on several Mumbai’s streets which resemble gushing streams due to absolute civic apathy this monsoon season.
While civic apathy lies woefully exposed and with many once again questioning the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation for being absolutely ineffective in dealing with monsoon rains, several streets in Mumbai have begun resembling waterways. To help stranded locals, Indian Navy deployed its personnel with rafts in Kurla. It is reported that more rafts could be deployed where required elsewhere in the city.
Rafts indeed could be the preferred mode of transportation on Mumbai’s streets as incessant rains and overflowing drains have transformed roads into gushing streams. Many vehicles were seen stranded on Monday as well as Tuesday, causing jams which have lasted several hours. While a public holiday has been declared for Tuesday, many Mumbaikars were still seen on the streets trying to reach their intended destinations. Zee News spoke to a few commuters at Bandra who said that they had no choice but to venture out as some of them are shopkeepers and fear water may have entered their place of business.
Mumbai and its suburbs have seen heavy downpour over the past two to three days with BMC claiming that the recorded rainfall here is the highest in a decade. Train and plane services too have been severely affected while there have been at least 40 deaths reported across the state of Maharashtra due to rain-related incidents.
Prasanta Patnaik