Mumbai civic body urges citizens to stay away from beach, coastal areas

Owing to the extremely heavy rainfall warning issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for Mumbai on Sunday and Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appealed citizens to stay away from the sea and coastal areas

Owing to the extremely heavy rainfall warning issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD) for Mumbai on Sunday and Monday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has appealed citizens to stay away from the sea and coastal areas. Five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been put on high alert in the city and the civic body is making arrangements to shift hundreds of families residing on the banks of Mithi river, in case water level crosses the danger mark due to heavy rainfall.

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According to BMC officials, IMD has issued a red alert for Sunday. BMC in a statement said additional dewatering pumps followed by fixing of drainage systems, checking of manholes is being done by the staff to ensure there is no untoward event.

Further, municipal schools in all 24 wards of the city are to be turned into temporary shelters in case of excessive rainfall that requires evacuation. BMC said it is putting the flood rescue team of the Mumbai Fire Brigade on standby and that it will coordinate with the Indian Navy and Coast Guard for help in case of extreme situation.

Ward officers in areas around Mithi river, such as Worli, Bandra, Andheri, and Malad, have been asked to stay on alert considering these areas are either affected being coastal areas or have rivers that overflow due to excessive rainfall.

A BMC official said, “At any given time, in case the Mithi river water level goes above danger level, we will have to shift at least 1,200 residents to safe locations. We have kept the staff on standby and residents will be shifted only if we feel that the water level is increasing dangerously on Sunday.”