Mumbai rains: Homes flooded, Vasai-Virar locals shell out for hotels

Vasai Virar and Nalasopara have been witnessing sporadic rainfall for the past few days which has flooded many localities in the areas forcing residents of groundfloor flats to move to hotels While the locals alleged improper premonsoon work for their plight the civic chief said high tide was to blame for severe waterloggingAreas like Sunctity DG Nagar Dindayal Nagar 100ft Road C colony and Chulne village in Vasai and parts of Nalasopara and Virar are completely waterloggedA family of C colony has moved to a hotel nearby after rainwater entered their bedroom of their groundfloor flat ldquoWe have been staying in this hotel since Wednesday Itrsquos really difficult to stay there with two children with allergiesrdquo said Vibha Dubey adding that they have been shelling out Rs 2000 every day on the stay aloneThe rainwater has submerged roads on either side of Suncity PicsHanif PatelldquoEvery monsoon rainwater enters our flat and every year my belongings get damaged Our house stinks for days The municipal corporation is least bothered about the safety of citizens There is no proper drainage system in VasaiVirar and Nalasopara areas We struggle every monsoonrdquo she addedldquoLast week the electricity supply was disconnected because the water level was rising in residential complexes of Vasai Westrdquo said DubeyMany move to hotelsMany families staying on the groundfloor buildings in Vasai have moved to hotels waiting for the rainwater to recedeThe waterlogged Chulne villageNagraj Shetty the general secretary of Hotel Association of Vasai taluka said H and C colonies located on Ambadi road were still waterlogged ldquoThere are a few hotels in Vasai taluka where local residents are staying currently as their flats are floodedrdquo Shetty said while speaking to midday on Sunday eveningldquoI have been living in Vasai for the past 32 years The Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC is the worst They donrsquot care about people Since there is no corporator at present the municipal commissioner should have done something to relieve us of this agonyrdquo said an elderly man staying near H colony requesting anonymityHe stayed at a hotel for three days after rainwater entered his flat on the ground floor ldquoIt was impossible to live in 2fthigh mucky waterrdquo he saidGangaram Haldankar with wife Priti and their son Samarth outside their flat in C ColonyNow back at his home he said ldquoMy house is in a mess My belongings are destroyed and the area is stinking Is the municipal commissioner sleeping This is really disgusting that civic officials do nothing despite being paid wellrdquo he addedResidents said they have been buying packaged drinking waterMany officegoers decided to work from home but they could not for longer as the power supply was disruptedChulne still floodedldquoThe rainwater has not receded even though there has been no heavy rainfall in the past two days The area is stinking and this situation will persist till December Civic officials should think about our safety Where will we go with our familiesrdquo asked Sebastian Assao a resident of Chulne villagePrakash Pevekar a resident of C Colony in his waterlogged homeThe area has been flooding every monsoon for the past 23 years due to government apathy and lack of proper drainage system residents saidSister Gloria Fernandes principal of Nishkalanka Convent School at Papdy village in Vasai told midday ldquoWe are 10 people including a woman in her 80s at the school with the ground floor inundated We had to shift a lot of things to the first floor We are pumping out water from the premisesrdquoldquoNot a single civic official has visited us to see the conditions we are staying here This is really horriblerdquo she addedlsquoYou tell mersquoWhen midday pointed out residentsrsquo plight and complaint VVCMC commissioner Anilkumar Pawar said ldquoYou have been highlighting only the negative things but the flooding is everywhere Situation is bad in Bhiwandi toordquoPawar added ldquoVasaiVirar and Nalasopara have faced heavy rainfall and there was a red alert for the area Rainwater could not recede as there is high tide in the sea We had cleaned all the drains vertically and horizontally before monsoon but what can we do if there is a high tiderdquoOn yearly flooding of Chulne village Pawar scoffed ldquoThis is a lowlying area where rainwater gets accumulated You suggest what can be done and how we should resolve the issuerdquoRs 2000Amount per day Dubeys are paying on hotel stay