Heavy and persistent rainfall has once again battered Mumbai, flooding the roads of India’s financial capital, disrupting travel and forcing the local civic body to declare a holiday for all government and semi-government offices.
Swimming on the roads of Mumbai
Amid this chaos, one youngster was spotted swimming on a waterlogged road in Mumbai. The video, filmed outside a mall, shows a number of people waiting on the steps for the water level to go down. A few children, however, refused to let a little waterlogging get in the way of their fun — the video shows at least one boy swimming happily on the waterlogged road.
A couple of other children were also seen sitting and wading in the water. Watch the video below:
The video has been widely circulated online. While some praised the child for looking for opportunity in a disaster, others blamed authorities for the state of the city.
Work from home, avoid travel
{{/usCountry}}The video has been widely circulated online. While some praised the child for looking for opportunity in a disaster, others blamed authorities for the state of the city.
Work from home, avoid travel
{{/usCountry}}The video comes amid a red alert for extremely heavy rainfall in Mumbai, issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Tuesday declared a holiday for all government and semi-government offices in Mumbai, while advising private offices to allow employees to work from home, except for those in essential and emergency services.
The civic body also appealed to residents in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) to avoid unnecessary travel.
According to officials, parts of Mumbai received more than 250 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours. Between 8:30 AM on Monday and 8:30 AM on Tuesday, Vikhroli recorded 255.5 mm, Byculla 241 mm, Santacruz 238.2 mm, Juhu 221.5 mm, and Bandra 211 mm. Colaba received 110.4 mm, while Mahalaxmi saw 72.5 mm of rainfall.