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Efforts on to restore normality in Mumbai

Special Correspondent

Committee of senior civil servants set up to coordinate work of various departments

MUMBAI: The State Government has set up a committee to co-ordinate the efforts of various departments to ensure that normality returns to the affected areas of Mumbai.

At a special press briefing on Sunday, Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said the committee had been set up in the last 48 hours and included senior civil servants, who had been given charge of various parts of Mumbai and beyond.

One of the biggest problems the Government faces is clearing the garbage that has accumulated. Shopkeepers and people whose homes have been submerged are adding to the garbage by dumping their damaged goods on the roads. Mr. Deshmukh said hundreds of dumpers and compacters had been put on the job to clear the garbage. They also had to dispose of thousands of rotting carcases of dead buffaloes, sheep and goats. He admitted that the Government faced a difficult task because of the renewed threat of heavy rains in the next 48 hours.

Restoring power supply

According to Maharashtra Energy Minister Dilip Walse-Patil, power has been restored to 80 per cent of the affected areas in the State. But in areas where the transformers had been submerged, power supply could not be restored until they were repaired.

In Badlapur, for instance, he said 12 transformers still had to be repaired. The rain had also knocked down transmission poles in several places. The Government has made it a priority to supply power to all water pumping stations, he said, so that drinking water supply could be restored.

The State Government said that 90 per cent of Mumbai's residents now have drinking water and those who did not, would receive tanker water.

The Government has guaranteed 20 kg of grain and 10 litres of kerosene to every affected family. The Chief Minister said the distribution had begun but admitted that it had been hampered by the weather. He said that by Monday, truckloads of these commodities would be sent to the worst affected areas for distribution.

The areas in suburban Mumbai with the most complaints are Kurla and Kalina, both of which were inundated and still have no power and no water. Reliance Energy supplies power to these areas. The Chief Minister said the Government had spoken to the company and received an assurance that it would restore power by 6 p.m. on Monday.

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