How prepared is Mumbai for the monsoon
Drain strain: Like always, the BMC’s claims of cleaning nullahs down to the bottom have proved hollow. Though the official timeline of May 31 has expired, work on many nullahs, especially the Poinsur nullah, is far from complete.
Road show: There are fewer bad patches on city roads this year than last year, but the roads are still a long stretch away from providing seamless travel. Officials say that close to 10km of roads are dug up and remain to be resurfaced. There are 200 bad patches.
Disaster cell: The BMC has deployed more than 1,100 employees for disaster management this year. A unified command headed by the Western Naval Command has been put in place for the first time. The BMC claims that with various state-of-the-art equipment like weather stations, which provide real-time data and communication modules, including sms alerts by mobile networks and control rooms set up in the various wards, the response time for any eventuality will be a maximum of 30 minutes. The machinery will be activated in 3 minutes flat.
Building quakes: As compared to 234 buildings declared dangerous last year, 218 have been identified as such this year. After the collapse of the seven-storey Laxmi Chhaya building at Borivili last year, the municipal corporation had proposed to make a structural audit compulsory for all buildings over 15 years old. The proposal is yet to take shape.
Predicaments: The authorities are at a loss for answers to mitigate disasters like cyclones and landslides. More than 90 areas have been identified as cyclone vulnerable and 117 as landslide-prone. While no cyclone shelter has been set up as yet, the authorities have built retaining walls around 34 of the 117 landslide sites.
Dial-a-help: The BMC has set up 24-hour monsoon control rooms at all its ward offices. It has also set up a central control room.