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Breather for Mumbai: Heavy rains unlikely; BMC says situation in control
August 30, 2017
A day after heavy rains and severe flooding in Mumbai after parts of
the city received as much as 300 mm of rainfall, Brihanmumbai Municipal
Corporation Commissioner Ajoy Mehta on Wednesday said that such
'unprecedented situation' was much mitigated and are much under control.
Addressing
the media, the BMC Commissioner called the rainfall 'unprecedented' and
added that the water levels are kept 'under check' and are reseeding
quickly.
He also claimed that as many 30,000 employees of the BMC were present on the streets to help in tackling the situation.
"The
quantum of rainfall was extremely high. We had 325 mm of rainfall and
there were almost 26 locations where the rainfall exceeded 250mm.
"So, it was one of the highest unprecedented rainfalls.
"More
than that there are two things we need to see that how fast Mumbai
came back to normal which was really unprecedented, it was something
that was beyond the infrastructure of Mumbai," he said.
The
commissioner lauded the coordination among the various agencies and the
people of Mumbai in order to effectively tackle the flood situation.
"I
have to give credit to the people, to the employees and officers of
the corporation and all other people like the police, the BST and
brought Mumbai back on its feet," he added.
The Deputy Director
General of India Meteorological Department has said that the rain has
reduced in the past 8 to 10 hours and the
situation is likely to be the same for a few hours more.
Speaking
on the mitigation measures taken post the Mumbai floods, Sanjay Kumar,
Directorate General, National Disaster Response Force said that 10 of
their teams are on standby in the city and ready to be deployed, if
need arises.
In light of the past experiences, three NDRF teams had been prepositioned in Mumbai at strategic locations, the DG informed.
Further,
two of their teams were deployed after yesterday's weather forecast,
and five additional teams were rushed from their battalion headquarters
in view of water logging, heavy rains and high tide situations.
"Those
10 teams are still on standby in Mumbai watching the situation, and as
per requirement and in consultation with local authorities, we'll
further review the situation and deploy it ( NDRF teams), and if need
be, any operation can also be carried out," Kumar said.
He also
added that the teams are fully equipped to carry out operations in
heavy rains, flood-like situations, in water-logged areas and even
during night time. -- ANI
IMAGE: A road covered with mud after the rains water receded in Mumbai. Photograph: Shashank Parade/PTI Photo
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