Mumbai: A parent’s worst nightmare!

Year after year the monsoon reveals the ugly truth of MMRrsquos crumbling infrastructure and suffering of its citizens On Wednesday two families lost children in accidents that could have been avoided With waterlogging halting their train in Thane for over two hours a Bhiwandi resident alighted with his daughter and her sixmonthold But his leg got trapped in the tracks and the infant fell out of his hands into the drain In Bhandup a 5yearold girl died when the ceiling at her lsquodeclared safersquo home fell on herYogita Rumale 25 a resident of Bhiwandi her father and her sixmonthold daughter were travelling to Mumbai on Wednesday afternoon when their train halted between Thakurli and Kalyan stationsYogita Rumale with her father after losing her childMany passengers started getting off the train to walk to the nearest railway station as the train did not move for over two hours Yogita and her father who was holding baby girl Rishita Rumale also alighted around 3 pmWhile passing by the drain his foot got stuck in the tracks and his granddaughter slipped from his hands and fell into the drain according to sources The strong currents swept Rishita away while her mother wailed helplessly and cried for helpThe drain flows into the Kalyan creekThe incident took place between Kalyan and Thakurli railway stations and the drain flows into the Kalyan creekSearch opldquoWith the help of Dombivli Government Railway Police GRP and the National Disaster Response Force NDRF we launched a rescue operation after receiving the informationrdquo said Senior PI Mukesh Dhage Kalyan GRPThe ceiling after a chunk fell on the girl at her flat in Bhandup on Wednesday morningldquoHowever we could not find the girl We had to stop the search as it was pitch dark and the current of the drain water was strong We will resume our search at 10 am on Thursdayrdquo Dhage addedInspector Yogesh Sharma from the NDRF told midday ldquoOur motto is to save the girl Tomorrow Thursday we will review the situation again and start the rescue operation as soon as possiblerdquoCM Shinde expressed concern over the unfortunate incident and urged parents to take necessary precautions to avoid such incidentsCentral Railway halted train services between Ambernath and Badlapur too at 1105 am as a precautionary measure officials said At 610 pm CR trains were restored on all sectionsThane Raigad inundatedConstant rain and rising water levels in rivers inundated Thane and Raigad districts on Wednesday said officials Ulhas Thane Amba Savitri and Patalganga rivers were among many that were overflowingAs many as 200 families from Sonivali and Hendre Pada in Badlapur town of Thane have been shifted to safer places Girl dies in BhandupTasin Shaikh 5 was sleeping when a chunk of the ceiling in her home came crashing down on her ldquoHis family rushed her to a private hospital but she died during treatmentrdquo a BMC official said The incident happened in room No 203 of the fivestoried Zakariya society in Bhandup West at 3 am on WednesdayCivic officials from S ward said they had issued notice to the building for repair in April 2023 The society carried out the repair works and submitted to us a structure audit report which stated that the building was structurally stable the BMC official saidAsked if the repair work was up to the mark a local civic official said ldquoAfter the BMC declared the building as illegal the repairs were conducted by the society itself and they submitted a report to the civic body that the building was safe We will examine the contents of the report and verify facts before coming toa conclusionrdquo10amTime the search for the girl will resumeCM declares holiday for schools in Mumbai and adjoining areasChief Minister Eknath Shinde visited the BMC Disaster Management Control Room on Wednesday evening and subsequently declared a holiday for schools up to Std XII for Thursday in anticipation of heavy rain This precautionary measure also extends to schools in Thane Palghar and RaigadCM Eknath Shinde at BMCrsquos Disaster Management Control Room in Mumbai on Thursday PicsAtul KambleDuring his visit the CM accompanied by Ministers Girish Mahajan Shambhuraje Desai Dada Bhuse and Deepak Kesarkar reviewed the situation in Mumbai Additional Commissioner P Velarasu attended the meeting with the CM and ministers while Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal was on a field visit to ChemburFollowing the visit CM Shinde informed the media ldquoAs a precautionary measure schools in Mumbai Thane Raigad and Palghar have been given a holiday tomorrow I have instructed divisional commissioners and collectors to provide assistance to Raigad from Panvel Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation Necessary actions are being taken for the affected areasrdquoHe mentioned that despite 110 lowlying areas in Mumbai there were no reports of waterlogging or major traffic disruptions on Thursday The municipal authorities have installed pumps at 450 locations in lowlying areas and the results of drain cleaning efforts are visible The officials are closely monitoring the situation dailyThe AmbernathBadlapur disaster management system is on high alert and arrangements are being made to provide food and water to people Excess trains have been arranged and instructions were given to ST bus and BEST services to prevent crowding at railway stations