The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has attributed the severe flooding that hit Mumbai on Monday to a failure by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) to provide adequate warning of heavy rainfall. The unexpected deluge led to waterlogging across many parts of the city, including the Mantralaya government complex.
While opposition parties and local residents sharply criticised the BMC for its apparent lack of readiness, a senior BMC official told the Free Press Journal that the intense rain was unforeseen. “We did not receive any alerts from the IMD regarding heavy rainfall. Typically, Mumbai experiences four to five days with over 200 millimetres of rain, mostly in July. This year, the heavy downpour arrived almost two months earlier,” the official explained.
However, the IMD regularly issues weather warnings to the BMC, state government, fire brigade, and disaster management authorities as part of its standard operating procedures. The absence of such alerts in this instance has raised questions.
Adding to the civic body’s challenges, Municipal Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani was on leave during the period and only returned to work on Saturday. His absence reportedly resulted in a lack of effective leadership at the civic headquarters during a critical time.
The flooding caused major disruptions across Mumbai, exacerbating concerns about the city’s disaster preparedness and infrastructure resilience, especially in the face of increasingly unpredictable weather patterns.
Critics argue that the BMC must enhance its contingency planning and communication strategies to better protect residents from such emergencies in the future. Meanwhile, many await a detailed explanation of the circumstances that led to the apparent communication breakdown between the IMD and civic authorities.
Source: The Free Press Journal
