Record Rains Sweep Mumbai Into Flood Emergency

MUMBAI, India, August 4, 2005 (ENS) - Heavy monsoon rains since over the past 10 days have claimed 1,023 lives in the Indian west coast state of Maharashtra, according to police figures, and more than 100 people are still missing.

The coastal districts and the Mumbai Metropolis were hardest hit by the heaviest rainfall ever recorded in a 24 hour period that fell here on July 26 and 27. Heavy to moderate rains continued Wednesday in Mumbai and the Konkan region.

At least one million families in Maharashtra have been directly affected by the floods, landslides, and the release of water from various dams, state officials estimate.

Flood water in affected districts has begun to recede, but now overflowing dams, lack of clean water, and piles of rotting garbage are posing a new threats to the beleaguered population.

Flooding rains make life miserable in India' financial capital of Mumbai (Photo courtesy Taj Reisen Seiten)

In addition, 50 medical teams are operating in suburban Mumbai and 150 teams in rural areas.

The state is organizing hygiene awareness campaign on cable/TV programs and through press briefings for use of alum, boiling drinking water by public.

The Mumbai airport was reopened Wednesday to full capacity, but the trains are not operating in Mumbai because the tracks were damaged in the flooding. Street demonstrations against lack of train service yesterday and today have not resulted in repair of the damaged tracks.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh said Tuesday that the management of natural calamities and disasters "needs a re-look."

Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh (Photo courtesy Office of the Minister)

He directed the authorities to complete distribution of grains and other relief material to the flood-affected people within the next couple of days. In the next two weeks, the state would prepare a memorandum with details of damages and approach the central government for additional funds, he said.

“The state will give Rs one lakh (100,000 rupees or US$2,300) to the kith and kin of every adult who died in the floods and Rs 50,000 for every minor," one official explained.

In addition, the state is providing Rs 5,000 (US$115) cash to all those affected by the floods in all income groups and 10 kilos (22 pounds) of foodgrains.

Chief Minister Deshmukh and other officials have said that the amount of financial aid received from the central government is too small.

“The task is huge and the situation is still alarming in many places. Rains have stopped for now, but water levels are still high in several rivers. The number of affected people is quite large and the magnitude of the disaster is just too huge,” a senior official said.

In the worst affected areas, there is a lack of clean drinking water, and health officials fear outbreaks of viral disease.

As the water levels have receded piles of garbage have emerged including, "furniture washed away from houses, vegetables, clothes, rats and, in worst cases, human bodies and animal carcasses," the "Hindu" newspaper reports.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil on Wednesday accused the neighboring state of Karnataka of not releasing enough water from its Alamatti dam, causing water to back up, worsening the flood situation in the several districts. He sought the immediate intervention of the Prime Minister in the matter.

In the neighboring state of Goa, low-lying areas in both South and North Goa districts were flooded due to heavy rains and high tide conditions in the rivers. A total of nine deaths have been reported due to a landslide in Dicarpale village in South Goa district. Train traffic along coastal areas was disrupted due to submergence of rail tracks.