Record rain kills 32 across Mumbai

A total of 258 mm rainfall within a few hours on Saturday night wreaked havoc in the city as wall collapses in eastern suburbs collectively killed 30 in Mahul Vikhroli and Bhandup The landslide and heavy downpour led to not just mud but also electric shocks in the water which prevented people from rushing to safety Another two people died by electrification in other areas of the city taking the total death toll to 32A landslide in the slum of Vanjar Danda New Bharat Nagar at Mahul caused a retaining wall to collapse According to the civic disaster cell 19 died and five were injured Six to seven houses were affected by the rubble and many could not be rescued in time due to the electrified water said locals Fire officials and NDRF teams faced numerous difficulties to reach the incident spotA fire official said ldquoA lot of manpower was used in the up and down from the affected houses to the ambulances as they had to be parked over 500 to 600 metres away amid lack of visibility and other difficultiesrdquo Locals said that had the water not been electrified for over two hours many lives could have been savedAlso read Mumbai Rains To north of city roads turn riversRescue operation underway at New Bharat Nagar Mahul PicSameer MarkandeResident Nasir Shaikh said ldquoWhen the incident took place I immediately rushed there to help but when I tried to go near I realised there was an electric current in the water So I waited for the rescuers to arrive but by then it was too laterdquoForce of mud knocked wallsWhile more than 65 mm rainfall in 24 hours is considered as heavy the city received 258 mm in just three hours and more than 80 mm in just an hour The impact of the landslides was such that the accumulated mud and sludge knocked down retaining walls and landed on the huts officials saidldquoThe rescue operation is being done in three phases The first phase was to evacuate people trapped under the debris Then we will remove all the debris by Sunday evening so that it does not float to other houses Third we will shift people to another location As a Standard Operating Procedure SOP we send notices about landslide warnings to everyone staying on a hill before monsoon startsrdquo said civic commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal The administration along with the suburban collector is rehabilitating residents of the 25 to 30 affected houses in available PAPs Rescue operations were going on till the time of going to press on Sunday40 shifted to shelterIn Vikhroli a groundplusone residential building collapsed in the wee hours of Sunday in Suryanagar area that adjoins a hillock Seven to eight houses collapsed and 10 people died including a child and one child was injured The 10 deaths were from three affected houses This land where 35000 people reside also belongs to the suburban collectorVibhas Achrekar assistant municipal commissioner S ward said ldquoWe had surveyed the land and advised citizens residing on top to vacate their houses as it is a landslideprone zone We had stuck notices and alerted residents thrice but they did not heed the warnings We are shifting around 40 people at risk to a civic school on a temporary basis Thirty people are from the Vikhroli landslideprone zone and 10 are from BhanduprdquoAs per the National Disaster Response Force which was the first to reach the spot bodies had to be located with the help of a canine squad They deployed three additional teams as a precautionary measure as per the IMDrsquos orange alert along the coast of Maharashtra These teams came in handy during the rescueLocal MP Manoj Kotak visited the site in the morning He said ldquoI reviewed the situation and have instructed officials for quick rehabilitationrdquoIn a third wall collapse in Bhandup West near Amarkul School a 16yearold injured person was sent to MT Agarwal Hospital Mulund but was declared dead on arrival Apart from these incidents two more deaths by electrification were reportedCompensation announcedThe state and central governments will be giving compensation of Rs 5 lakh and Rs 2 lakh respectively Environment Tourism Protocol and Suburban Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray said ldquoWe declared Rs 5 lakh compensation mdash Rs 4 lakh from the disaster management fund and Rs 1 lakh from CMrsquos relief fund for the kin of the deceased and request the central government to increase the help fund We are also going to shift people who are staying on the dangerous sloperdquoChief Minister Uddhav Thackeray tells agencies to work in tandem during mishapsAMID the loss of over 20 lives in rainrelated incidents across Mumbai and heavy showers inconveniencing citizens Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday asked the BMC and other agencies to be vigilant and work in tandem in case of mishapsThe CM reviewed the rain situation in the city through a televised system and interacted with various authorities Mumbai Suburban Guardian Minister Aaditya Thackeray and Mumbai City Guardian Minister Aslam Sheikh were also part of the discussionWhile retaining walls near hillocks gave way at Mahul and Vikhroli leading to deaths on Sunday a landslide had been reported from Malabar Hill last yearldquoThere are protective walls at the site of landslides in Mumbai but it remains to be seen whether there are any other options to study all such sites through IITs or other expert institutes or whether steps can be taken to strengthen them A hotline should be set up to better coordinate between the Railways and BEST so that passengers do not suffer during such disastersrdquo said a press release from the chief ministerrsquos officeThe CM talked about the safety of people living in decrepit structures ldquoWhen the rains stop dilapidated buildings become weaker and some of them fall and a big accident happens In any case evacuate the occupants of a very dangerous building whether it is under the jurisdiction of the municipality or MHADArdquo said the releaseMinister Aaditya Thackeray stressed the need for fever clinics saying monsoon triggers a spurt in diseases like malaria dengue and leptospirosis Citizens should also be screened at Covid vaccination centres while efforts should be made to raise awareness in housing societies he said Minister Sheikh asked power companies to ensure the power lines and their poles remain in good conditionMumbai civic chief Iqbal Singh Chahal who also attended the meeting said municipal workers and officers are on duty roundtheclock He said the corporation is keeping a close eye on landslideprone spots