2005 Maharashtra floods

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2005 Mumbai Floods

A map of the affected area/s

Flood in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Date of Occurrence 2005

Place Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Mortalities 405

Natural/Manmade Natural

The Maharashtra floods of 2005 refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian
state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis of Mumbai (formerly
Bombay), a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India,
in which at least 1,000 people died. It happened just one month after similar flooding in
Gujarat.
The floods were caused by the eighth heaviest ever recorded 24-hour rainfall figure of
944 mm (37.2 inches) which lashed the metropolis on 26 July 2005, and intermittently
continued for the next day. 644 mm (25.4 inches) was received within the 12-hr period
between 8am and 8pm. The highest 24-hour period in India was 1,168 mm
(46.0 inches)in Aminidivi in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep on 6 May 2004
although some reports suggest that it was a new Indian record. The previous record
high rainfall in a 24-hour period for Mumbai was 575 mm (22.6 inches) in 1974.
Other places to be severely affected were Raigad, Chiplun, Ratnagiri and Kalyan in
Maharashtra and the southern state of Goa.
The rains slackened between the 28 July and30 July but picked up in intensity on July
31. The Maharashtra state government declared 27 and 28 as a state holiday for the
affected regions. The government also ordered all schools in the affected areas to
close on August 1 and August 2. Mumbai Police commissioner Anami Narayan Roy
requested all residents to stay indoors as far as possible on July 31 after heavy rains
disrupted the city once again, grounding all flights for the day.
Contents
[hide]

1 Overview

2 Threat to public health

3 Topography
4 Financial effect
 5 Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world
6 Human tragedy
7 Factors aggravating the disaster in Mumbai
← 7.1 Antiquated drainage system
← 7.2 Uncontrolled, unplanned development in Northern Suburbs
← 7.3 Destruction of mangrove ecosystems
8 Mumbai Floods in Popular Culture
9 References

10 External links

[edit] Overview
Thousands of schoolchildren were stranded due to flooding and could not reach home
for up to 18 hours. The subsequent two days were declared as school and college
holidays by the state government. The city region and the suburbs received 944 mm
(37.2 inches) (the city and suburbs make up the metropolis).

Areas in Mumbai badly affected by the flooding

The rains hit the state of Goa and parts of western Maharashtra on July 25. Adding to
the chaos was the lack of public information. Radio stations and many television
stations did not receive any weather warnings or alerts by the civic agencies. The Met
department blamed it on the lack of sophisticated Doppler radars which would have
given a 3 hour prior warning.

[edit] Threat to public health

The rain water caused the sewage system to overflow and all water lines were
contaminated. The Government ordered all housing societies to add chlorine to their
water tanks while they decontaminate the water supply.
Thousands of animal carcasses floated in the flood waters, raising concerns about the
possibility of disease.
Reports in the media warned of the threat of waterborne diseases, and hospitals and
health centers geared up to distribute free medicines to check any outbreak.
Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world
← For the first time ever, Mumbai's domestic and
international airports (including Chatrapati Shivaji
International Airport, Sahar and Juhu aerodrome) were
shut for more than 30 hours due to heavy flooding of the
runways and extremely poor visibility. Over 700 flights
were cancelled or delayed. The airports reopened on the
morning of 28 July 2005. Rediff. Within 24 hours of the
airports becoming operational, there were 185
departures and 184 arrivals, including international
flights. Again from early morning of 31st July, with
increase in water logging of the runways and different
parts of Mumbai, most of the flights were indefinitely
cancelled.
← Rail links were disrupted, and reports on late evening of
30th July indicated cancellation of several long distance
trains up to 6th August, 2005.
← The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which witnessed a
number of landslides, was closed, for the first ever time,
for 24 hours.
← According to the Hindustan Times, an unprecedented 5
million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users were
hit for over four hours.
← According to the .in registrar (personal communication),
the .in DNS servers in Mumbai had to be reconfigured
because the servers were not operational.
Transport stats

← 52 local trains damaged

← 37,000 autorickshaws spoilt
← 4,000 taxis
← 900 BEST buses damaged
← 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world

← For the first time ever, Mumbai's domestic and
international airports (including Chatrapati Shivaji
International Airport, Sahar and Juhu aerodrome) were
shut for more than 30 hours due to heavy flooding of the
runways and extremely poor visibility. Over 700 flights
were cancelled or delayed. The airports reopened on the
morning of 28 July 2005. Rediff. Within 24 hours of the
airports becoming operational, there were 185
departures and 184 arrivals, including international
flights. Again from early morning of 31st July, with
increase in water logging of the runways and different
parts of Mumbai, most of the flights were indefinitely
cancelled.
← Rail links were disrupted, and reports on late evening of
30th July indicated cancellation of several long distance
trains up to 6th August, 2005.
← The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which witnessed a
number of landslides, was closed, for the first ever time,
for 24 hours.
← According to the Hindustan Times, an unprecedented 5
million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users were
hit for over four hours.
← According to the .in registrar (personal communication),
the .in DNS servers in Mumbai had to be reconfigured
because the servers were not operational.

Transport stats

← 52 local trains damaged

← 37,000 autorickshaws spoilt
 ← 4,000 taxis
← 900 BEST buses damaged
← 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

← Factors aggravating the disaster in Mumbai

← [edit] Antiquated drainage system
← The present storm-water drainage system in Mumbai was put in place in the
early 20th century and is capable of carrying only 25 millimetres of water per
hour which was extremely inadequate on a day when 944 mm of rain fell in the
city. The drainage system is also clogged at several places.
← Only 3 'outfalls' (ways out to the sea) are equipped with floodgates whereas the
remaining 102 open directly into the sea. As a result, there is no way to stop the
seawater from rushing into the drainage system during high tide.
← In 1990, an ambitious plan was drawn to overhaul the city's storm water
drainage system which had not been reviewed in over 50 years. A project
costing approximately 600 crore rupees was proposed by UK based consultants
hired by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to study the matter.
Implementation of the project would have ensured that rainwater did not flood
the streets of Mumbai. The project was planned to have completed by 2002 and
aimed to enhance the drainage system through larger diameter storm water
drains and pipes, using pumps wherever necessary and removing
encroachments. The project, if implemented would have doubled the storm
water carrying capacity to 50 mm per hour.
← The BMC committee had rejected the proposed project on the grounds that it
was "too costly".
← [edit] Uncontrolled, unplanned development in Northern
Suburbs
← unlike South Mumbai, development in northern suburbs of Mumbai is haphazard
and buildings are constructed without proper planning. The drainage plans in
northern suburbs is chalked out as and when required in a particular area and
not from an overall point of view.
← The Environment Ministry of the Government of India was informed in the early
1990s that sanctioning the Bandra-Kurla complex (a commercial complex in
northern Mumbai) was leading to disaster. No environment clearance is
mandatory for large urban construction projects in northern Mumbai. Officials in
the environment ministry claimed that it was not practical to impose new
guidelines with retrospective effect "as there are millions of buildings".
←
←
←
← [edit] Destruction of mangrove ecosystems

←
←
← Powai Lake, Mumbai on the verge of overflowing
← Mangrove ecosystems which exist along the Mithi River and Mahim Creek are
being destroyed and replaced with construction. Hundreds of acres of swamps
in Mahim creek have been reclaimed and put to use for construction by builders.
These ecosystems serve as a buffer between land and sea. It is estimated that
Mumbai has lost about 40% of its mangroves between 1995 and 2005, some to
builders and some to encroachment (slums). Sewage and garbage dumps have
also destroyed mangroves. The Bandra-Kurla complex in particular was created
by replacing such swamps.