Mumbai: 31 killed, 6 injured as rain lashes city over weekend

As heavy rain lashed the city since Saturday night, at least 31 people were killed and six injured in landslides and house collapses in Chembur, Vikhroli and Bhandup and a short-circuit at Andheri

As heavy rain lashed the city since Saturday night, at least 31 people were killed and six injured in landslides and house collapses in Chembur, Vikhroli and Bhandup and a short-circuit at Andheri. The downpour also brought back Mumbai’s most infamous monsoon scenes – suspended railway services, diverted buses and citizens forced to wade through the flooded roads. According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), several areas in the city reported more than 200mm of rain between 11pm on Saturday and 4am on Sunday, with Dahisar and Chembur receiving the highest amount of rainfall. The BMC termed both the landslides a natural calamity, as the Chembur and Vikhroli shanties were located on hillslopes. In both cases, the structures were built illegally on collector’s land and the BMC maintained it had already appealed to citizens to vacate their houses.

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Around 1 am, a landslide was reported in New Bharat Nagar area of Mahul in Chembur. Due to the landslide, part of a retaining wall collapsed on five houses. Nineteen people lost their lives, of which four were minors. Five, including a 15-year-old teenager, were injured. All victims were rushed to nearby civic-run Rajawadi Hospital.

Officials said they had already asked the residents of the slums to vacate the houses. According to BMC, the land on which structures were built belonged to a suburban collector and all houses were illegal. Bharat Marathe, deputy municipal commissioner, said, “We had issued an advisory to the citizens residing in landslide-prone zones to vacate their houses and shift to safe locations. We had pasted notices in the area and also given advertisements in the newspapers appealing citizens to vacate their houses before the monsoon.”

Marathe added, “The land is owned by the suburban collector, and they should shift the structures. However, on the directions of the municipal commissioner, we have decided to shift a few citizens temporarily in houses meant for project-affected persons. These will have to be vacated in the coming days. The mud and rocks, along with rainwater, came with force, which mainly resulted in the deaths.”

Sandeep Saroj, who lives near the site, said, “My options are limited. I do not earn enough to rent another house. I will go back to my native place and stay with my parents until the monsoon ends. I will have to quit my job now.”

Around 3am, a similar landslide was reported in Surya Nagar in Vikhroli, where boulders came crashing. At least eight houses collapsed, killing 10 and injuring one. Seven deaths were from three families in three houses. In this incident too, the land on which around 35,000 citizens resided belongs to a suburban collector. Vibhas Achrekar, assistant municipal commissioner, said, “We had done a survey and advised citizens residing on top to vacate their houses. We had displayed notices in the area and alerted the citizens thrice, but they did not pay any heed. The land is owned by a suburban collector but for now we are shifting around 40 citizens from the area to a civic-run school on a temporary basis. Of these 40 people, thirty are from the Vikhroli landslide zone and the remaining 10 people from Bhandup.”

Dipu Tewari, who lived in Vikhroli with a family of eight, said, “We had two houses of which my one house collapsed. I had gone to work for my night shift and suddenly I got a call that there is a landslide. I have lost two of my relatives. All my family members were awake and ready to rush out. But everything happened suddenly.”

At both the Chembur and Vikhroli spots, the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB) had to take assistance from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which carried out search and rescue operations for over a 12-hour period on Sunday.

A house collapse at Bhandup killed a 16-year-old teenager around 5am. A 26-year-old man was killed in a short-circuit in a sweet shop at Andheri West.

Between 11pm on Saturday and 4am on Sunday, the island city reported 167mm of rain, western suburbs reported 178mm of rain and eastern suburbs reported 177mm of rainfall. The highest rain was reported in Dahisar (226mm), followed by Chembur (206mm) and Borivli (226mm). The remaining areas of the city reported 140mm-199mm rain.

Overall, in the city, waterlogging was reported at 31 locations, of which nine were in the island city, including Hindmata, Sion Road no 24, Gandhi Market, Wadala Church, Nair Hospital, Sangam Nagar in Wadala etc. Further, in the western suburbs, waterlogging was reported at 10 locations, including Link Road Bandra, Sainath Subway Borivali, Milan subway, Andheri subway, Andheri market, Dahisar subway, Bandra talkies, Veera Desai Road, Andheri, Vakola Bridge, Best Nagar, Andheri. Lastly, in the eastern suburbs, nine locations, including Kurla, RCF Colony, Shell Colony, Anushakti Nagar, Sher-e-Punjab Colony, Mankhurd railway station etc, were flooded.

The BMC said a total of 4423.50 million litres of rain water has been pumped by six pumping stations in a span of 10 hours from 11pm on Saturday to 9am on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a compensation of ₹2 lakh to the families of those who died, and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray has announced ₹5 lakh compensation for those who lost their family members. Environment Minister Aadtiya Thackeray on Sunday visited the spots of landslides at Mahul and Vikhroli. Thackeray said, “Since the past few years, we have been witnessing excess rain in a few hours, which makes it even more tough for the administration to handle.”

The Bharatiya Janata Party blamed the BMC’s mismanagement. Vinod Mishra, BJP corporator and BJP’s party leader in the BMC, said, “The BMC should stop playing with lives of citizens and every year we have this situation where people die during the monsoon. The BMC should ensure that there are no such incidents during heavy rainfall. It should compensate ₹10 lakh to family members of those who lost their own, and also compensate those whose house went under water due to water logging.”