Arrival of the Rains

The summer left an undesirable impression all over the Country. People died of Heart Strokes, Fatigue, Thirst. People were made uncomfortable by the heat and the humidity. To add to all this, there were frequent warnings of Powercuts as well as Water cuts, to put the people in a state of Panic. Now, finally, half of the country can rejoice now, with the arrival of the monsoons. The heat will all be gone, and everything there will be the fresh smell of wet mud, to mingle with the smell of Fresh Trees and plants and flowers. This period brings cleanses the people and makes the surroundings pleasent. It gladdens many a children's heart to play and wash off the dust of the brutal summer.

However, i have to consider the other side of the coin as well. In all this joy of freshness and pleasure, it is indeed sad that this post happens to be a dampener. But, these issues are more pressing, and especially, if it concerns a city called Mumbai. For two years after the deluge of 26/7, the monsoon in Mumbai will always be compared to that horrendous day. The Infrastructure of the City was tested on that day, and it failed miserably. Two years on, and the infrastructure has not been revamped, and many people are fearing a repeat of the 26/7 disaster.

Citizens, who reside in the low lying areas, are taking no chances this time around. Some residents of colonies have taken their own measures to tackle an emergency flood. Some families have shifted to the upper levels of their home and some have moved out of the city altogether. The cleanup of the Mithi River, which was the top priority has not been completed. Many people fear that if a downpour of July 26th happens again, there will be a repitition of the flooding.

Even as i write this post, the roads, railways and garbage have not been cleared. The railways look equally vulnerable as always, so do the roads. Instead of focusing on the entire city, the municipal corporation has concentrated on certain pockets of the city only. The average Citizen knows that No area in the city is flood-proof, so hence the actions of the Citizens seems to be a very sensible thing.

Pot-Holed Roads, lack of cleaning the Sewer drains and absolute ignorance of revamping the drainage system of the city marks the preparedness of the city. These are vulnerable times in which Mumbai is standing on, and it won't be long before Mumbai, instead of becoming Shanghai becomes a Venice. The city hangs by the thread, and a slight excess could create flooding of disastrous proportions, like July 26th. I guess this is the result of unplanned development, and lack of caring for the environment. Our State Environment minister will advocate the clearance of trees under the guise of development, and nobody can do anything about it.

Mumbai will perhaps be a case study as to the environmental suicide that it has committed. It might perhaps show that excessive concretization and haphazard development can indeed ruin a city. If 26/7 happens again, then Mumbai has no right to be called the Cosmopolitan city of India. World Environment Day has come and gone with not much of awareness, but I guess if the monsoons are bad this season, then Mumbai will celebrate 26th July as "ANNUAL FLOODING DAY".