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Rains Heavy rains lashed Mumbai on Tuesday morning and caused flooding in several parts of the city and its suburbs that disturbed normal life. It was another morning of monsoon mayhem for the city with several areas submerged and trains running late, compelling civic authorities to ask people not to step out of their homes. Heavy rainfall of 200 mm was recorded in Colaba in South Mumbai by the Regional Meteorological Department. While in Santacruz it was142.9 mm.

Floods Many low lying areas that include Bandra, Sion, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Andheri had been logged into water up to one and a half feet.except it many other low lying areas like the Milan Subway in Santacruz West, an arterial traffic junction, and the Malad subway in north Mumbai as well as Wadala, Mahim, Worli and Parel in south Mumbai had been completely submerged. Traffic got disrupted on the Mumbai-Pune expressway because of landslides. Flooding was reported in many low-lying areas and suburbs.

Drainage System Before the start of the monsoon season the municipal commissioner had said that the drainage system will be able enough to handle even 400 mm of rainfall in a day. But all the promises proved to be wring when Monday’s heavy rains put whole of the storm water drainage system under strain that could handle only about 40 mm of rainfall per hour.

Traffic Several stations were waterlogged that affected the rail services badly. Central Railway services came to a complete halt due to water logging between Kurla and Vidyavihar suburbs. However, trains on the Western and Harbour lines were running late by 15 to 20 minutes. Even flights from the international airports were delayed by an hour and a half. Many schools and the educational institutions had to declare a holiday and children who had had already reached there were asked to return home.

Past Experiences This is the second time that the city is facing the situation. Last year too, the city and its suburbs had gone through the same experience. It must be recalled that the city was badly hit on July 26, 2005 when rains virtually flooded India’s financial capital and life there came to a standstill for few days with all major routes submerged in flood water. City Municipal Council is more responsible for the present crisis than the nature because it has not taken the adequate steps to counter such situation though it has already gone through the same experience several times in the recent years.