Due to the incessant rains that lashed Mumbai on 26Jul05, normal life in
the city has been severely disrupted with both rail and road traffic had
come to a standstill on account of heavy water logging.
It was Tuesday. I was at work in Worli. At around 3:30 we could hear loud noises. Our entire dept is covered with glass on all the four sides, so we could see other departments downstairs. We all started looking down to find out what the confusion was all about. To my surprise I saw water coming from all the sides in the department below us. Suddenly there was an announment and we were asked to evacuate the premises.My boss told us that there’s some problem with the trains and asked us to leave early. She even told us that it better to stay in office rather then venturing outside as things were bad. However quite a few people left for home.
I alongwith eight other colleagues stayed in office. Had lots of fun , played card and gossiped. At around 11:00 pm onwards we started getting calls from all those people who had left office. They were all stuck at Mahim or Dadar and did not know what to do. We asked them to stay where they are . My brother was also stuck in office at Lower parel . At around 5:00 am he called me and said we have to leave. W left Worli by car at 5;15 am and reached Mahim safely in about 15 minutes. However after that we did not know what to do. We were caught badly in traffic. The RTO guys told us not to take the highway as the traffic there had not moved since last night. We them somehow managed to reach S Vroad - Khar, which was again blocked as people had just abandoned their cars and had left. I told my brother to park the car in some safe place and start walking. Since I live in Santacruz , the distance was not very difficult to cover. On the other hand we were worried about our car as we thought we would never find it the next morning. We started walking and reached Santacruz station, cross the bridge and came to the east. To my astonishement Santacruz for me looked like Arabian sea. There was water on all the four sides. Now what?? I said lets think of God and keep walking straight. It took us 2 hours to reach home. There was water upto the chest level in my building. My parents were relieved to see us home.
After reaching home I actually came to know that things were not all that good in Kalina. As we all know by now, KALINA was the worst affected areas. The water level had risen up to 10 ft level in some of the colonies. Air India colony being hit very badly. The ground floor apartments were completely swept away with people having no clothes to wear and no food to eat. Many people lost their lives .
According to BBC the death toll is only 800, but I am sure it is much more. The severity of the problem has to be shown to the world so that some charity can come from all across the world to help the flood victims. As of now, what is the next step that the government is going to take for the losses to the people, is a big question mark. Has anyone bothered to reach them, find about their plight and help them?
I have been a Mumbai resident for 27 years. Monsoon had never been so bad. I have read and heard about floods, but this time I actually saw it. I actually saw dead bodies piled up.
What has angered me the most is the plight of the millions of Mumbaikars and the ridiculous statements coming from politicians, the lack of any disaster plan for the city although millions of rupees have been ’’spent’’ on it, and the attitude of the administration.
Do not miss a single opportunity help the needy.
Regards
Anu