Heavy downpour throws life in Vasai – Virar off track

As a precaution, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was called in at the Boidapada area in Vasai east, where two people were killed in a landslide last year during the rainy season. NDRF personnel were posted at various other vulnerable spots

MUMBAI: This was not the first time that life was thrown off-kilter in the Vasai-Virar area, in Palghar district, during the monsoons. Like every year, Wednesday’s downpour led to many roads being submerged under over three-feet water. Motorists had a hard time wading through the waterlogged roads and negotiating potholes.

Heavy downpour throws life in Vasai – Virar off track

As a precaution, a team from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was called in at the Boidapada area in Vasai east, where two people were killed in a landslide last year during the rainy season. NDRF personnel were posted at various other vulnerable spots.

Mahesh Marathe, 45, said citizens of the suburb faced such woes at this time every year. “The municipal corporation promises that the area will be free of flood before the monsoon. But the promises are packed away like raincoats at the end of the season,” said Marathe, a resident of Meethanagar in Vasai east which was the worst affected in the suburb. Water entered more than 300 houses, making it difficult for residents to step out and travel. “The fire brigade had to provide boats to residents of Meethanagar,” said a municipal corporation employee.

Many schools in the area were closed due to water logging and several vehicles were stuck in water. The downpour continued till late evening, leading to assistant commissioners of Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation (VVMC) patrolling the roads.

Residents also blame the rampant development and wide-scale construction in the far-off suburbs as a cause of flooding. Charusheela Pandit, deputy municipal commissioner of VVMC, said pumps were installed at waterlogged spots. But when asked why the situation remains the same every year, she blamed it on continuous rainfall and high tide making it difficult for the water to recede. “Today Vasai received 171 mm of rainfall, causing water-logging compared to Palghar which received 83.8 mm rainfall,” said Pandit.

Office goers were seen waiting for autorickshaws in knee-deep water in Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar but since the roads were waterlogged, they had few options of public transport.

Earlier, the Vasai-Virar police had cautioned tourists and locals to refrain from going to the beaches, dams and waterfalls. “Two boys drowned in Virar’s dam this month and three men died at the Chinchoti waterfalls where entry was restricted. People do not pay heed to the warning signs and sneak into the waterbodies which can prove fatal,” said a police officer from Vasai police station.