'BMC did nothing throughout the year': Netizens slam Mumbai civic officials as heavy rains lead to waterlogging

Netizens criticised Mumbai civic officials on Wednesday as heavy rains led to waterlogging in many areas of Mumbai, forcing the closure of the busy Andheri subway.

Two people got killed in tree fall incidents in Mumbai amid rains, including one in Malad, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a release.

The local train traffic on the Central and Western Railway routes was mostly normal though the trains were running a few minutes late, railway officials said.

''Due to accumulation of 1.5 to 2 feet of water, Andheri Subway is closed for vehicular movement. Traffic is diverted towards SV Road,'' Mumbai Traffic Police tweeted in the afternoon.

The civic-run Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport or `BEST' buses on three routes were diverted at Ketki pada in Dahisar East.

Several areas of Mumbai saw heavy waterlogging causing traffic problems and people walking in knee-deep water.

"Thank you BMC for doing absolutely NOTHING throughout the year regarding the Gokhale bridge construction. Life as an Andheri West resident is bloody hell. Just took me an hour to reach from Western Express Highway to Andheri West. Absolute rubbish," said a Twitter user.

Many netizens wondered how Asia's richest municipality was caught napping when the rains had hit.

In the 24 hours since previous morning, there were 26 incidents of tree fall, 15 incidents of short-circuit and five incidents of collapse or partial collapse of houses, the BMC said.

Rains also pounded neighbouring Thane city, leading to waterlogging and incidents of wall and house collapse.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted more showers in Mumbai, with moderate to intense rain spells in isolated places.

Kaushal Doshi (38) was severely injured in a tree fall at Mamledarwadi junction in the western suburb of Malad. He was rushed to the civic-run Shatabdi Hospital where the doctors declared him `brought dead', a BMC official said.

The island city (south Mumbai), eastern and western suburbs received 12.44 mm, 42.41 mm and 40.46 mm of rainfall, respectively, between 8 am to 12 noon on Wednesday, as per civic officials.

IMD Mumbai issued a 'nowcast' warning at 9.30 am, saying ''moderate to intense spells of rain very likely to occur at isolated places'' in Mumbai along with some other coastal districts.

Municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal and other senior officials visited the Mithi river bank in Bandra-Kurla Complex area, the under-construction coastal road in Worli and some other locations in Mumbai to assess the situation in view of the heavy showers.

Ironically, though the city has been receiving heavy rains over the last two-three days, the BMC has decided to implement a 10 per cent water cut from July 1 as the stock in the lakes supplying water to the city is down to about seven per cent. In Thane, a 36-year-old woman was injured when a portion of a single-storey chawl (tenement) collapsed on Tuesday evening in Mahagiri Koliwada area, authorities said.

The protection wall of a housing society in Chandanwadi locality collapsed around 11 on Wednesday morning due to heavy rains but nobody was injured in the incident.

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