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Deluge not `once-in-a-hundred-year' event

Staff Reporter

Concerned Citizens' Commission faults Administration for the July 26 rain havoc in Mumbai

MUMBAI: A draft report released by the Concerned Citizens' Commission (CCC) here holds lack of accountability, the Administration's incompetence and corruption amid government servants as responsible for the damage wrought by the July 26 deluge.

Darryl D'Monte, Chairperson of the Forum of Environmental Journalists of India, said: "The Government was conspicuous by its absence and to add insult to injury, they even declared a two-day holiday."

He said the Government initiated no action even after a forest officer from the Sanjay Gandhi National Park warned officials about heavy rains by afternoon. "When all communication systems had failed, only the FM radio worked. The Government, however, did not make use of it."

The report notes: "A reason cited by Government officials for the system failure on July 26 was that the rainfall was unprecedented. There is enough evidence to suggest that the deluge was definitely not a `once-in-a-hundred-years' event. The intensity of such events will only increase with increased human activity."

Town planners attributed the cause of the deluge to encroachment of the Mithi river by slums, development of the airport runway by diverting the river's course and development of the Bandra-Kurla complex.

Architect Chandrashekhar Prabhu said: "Builders have already started paying slum dwellers to vacate the land near Mithi river. Mithi River should be viewed as a complete eco-system."

The city's suburbs received 944.2 mm of rain, exceeding the record 833 mm in Cherrapunji in 1910. According to official figures, 910 people lost their lives, 65 were injured and 33 were declared missing in Mumbai. The damage to property went into hundreds of crores and thousands of people lost their houses, belongings and all their savings.

Emphasising the need for better accountability, Teesta Setalwad, social activist and founder of Citizens for Justice and Peace, said: "Even the Delhi Administration listens. But in this city, despite four petitions in the High Court and a media outcry, officials in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation just don't listen."

Public hearings

Starting from September 3, 2005, the CCC held 12 public hearings in the worst affected areas of the city like Kurla, Kalina, Jeri Meri and Sakinaka. Over 14,000 written testimonies and 200 videotapes were recorded. While experts from various disciplines deposed, the Chief Minister, the Municipal Commissioner and other authorities did not.

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Deluge not `once-in-a-hundred-year' event

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