Poor attendance at Mumbai offices day after chaos

Many were forced to spend Wednesday night at their offices, and head home the next morning. This severely affected attendance at offices on Thursday.

Thousands of commuters were stranded at railway stations, municipal schools, or in their offices as the city came to a standstill on Wednesday.

Thousands of commuters were stranded at railway stations, municipal schools, or in their offices as the city came to a standstill on Wednesday. (Pratik Chorge/HT Photo)

Many were forced to spend Wednesday night at their offices, and head home the next morning. This severely affected attendance at offices on Thursday.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) opened 145 municipal schools to be used as temporary emergency shelters and 2,258 commuters used the facility overnight. According to data from the civic body, about 1,500 people stayed at the civic body’s headquarters at Fort on Wednesday, including civic employees, and commuters who needed shelter.

About 2,000 people were stranded for over six hours at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT), and managed to go home only once services on the central line resumed at 4am the next day. Over 5,000 people were stranded at various other train stations across the city, according to the Railways.

While the western line resumed at 9.30pm on Wednesday, giving some relief to commuters living in the western suburbs, people living in Kalyan, Thane, and Dombivili were seen hitchhiking rides on state transport buses heading out of Mumbai. Shortage of compressed natural gas (CNG) and piped natural gas (PNG) due to the fire at the ONGC plant in Uran on Tuesday meant fewer taxis were also plying on the streets.

Arun Mishra, who drives a taxi around central Mumbai, said, “No taxis were plying the streets, mostly because of the shortage of gas. The amount of gas which used to cost ₹300 is now being sold at ₹700, so many taxi drivers decided not to venture out today.”