City grapples with waterlogging & traffic jams after first showers

The rains are yet to arrive in all their fury, but Mumbai is already cracking up. Kurla, the worst-hit ward each year, doesn't yet have an ALM. Is the BMC playing 'dirty'?

Till Saturday, Mumbaikars had been patiently waiting for the monsoon to deliver them from a hot, clammy summer. But after rejoicing in the showers for two days, they woke up to a dry Monday, but only figuratively. On the ground, residents of scores of areas had to deal with waterlogged roads and traffic jams. 

    "This is only a sign of the problems to come," said Kurlaresident Loretta Gomes pointing at the bylane outside her home. "By Sunday afternoon, most of our area, which is lowlying, was waterlogged. Several of my neighbours' homes, 
which are below road-level, got flooded." Some of the worst-affected regions in the city, bedsides Kurla, were Andheri (East), Juhu, Station Road in Vile Parle and the area near Hill Road in Bandra (West). On Monday, residents of these areas were met with slow-moving traffic and ankledeep water, though rainfall had only been moderate. 
    Kurla, a perennial problem area, received only 18.29 mm of rainfall over the weekend, yet residents had to grapple with waterlogging. 
    In Andheri (East), locals had to struggle against choca-block traffic. "I made the mistake of taking my children out for a drive in the rains. Despite it being Sunday, the traffic was horrible," said Sakinaka resident Pooja Vasudev. "We had to cut short our trip and turn towards home." 
    In low lying parts of S V Road, there was ankle-deep water, leading to snarl-ups. "The worst stretch was near the Andheri Subway. I nearly fell of my motorcycle twice as it almost got caught in depressions amid paver blocks," said Bhavan's College student Ashish Metha. 
    In Juhu, most of the roads were dotted with puddles, which brought weekend traffic to a halt. Mejabeen Barwani, a member of the Juhu Residents' Association, said, "The worst-affected stretch was Juhu Church Road, where several potholes have emerged. Traffic on the inner roads in Juhu are coming to a standstill. At times, it takes me 20 to 30 minutes to reach the main road." 
    In Bandra, "many roads and bylanes off Hill Road were affected", said Jude Pereira, a member of the Hill Road Residents' Association. "The major problem is with paver blocks. Concretized road stretches withstand the rains. It is paver blocks that come out of place and lead to problems." 
Rains may revive after 2 days: Met 
    After Sunday's downpour, Mumbaikars woke up to a dry Monday. No rainfall was recorded at the observation stations in Colaba and Santa Cruz. Met said it may not rain in the next couple of days as well. "Generally, rain does not occur continuously. It tends to take a break and revive in a few days. The monsoon did not hit the city with strong winds. This is not rare," said N Y Apte of the regional meteorological centre. 
    The northern limit of the monsoon continues to be Veraval, Navsari, Akola, Brahmapuri, Kanker, Keonjhargarh, Midnapore, Burdwan, Malda, Bagdogra and Gangtok. The Met said conditions were favourable for further advancement into the Arabian Sea, Gujarat and Chhattisgarh and remaining parts of Maharashtra during the next 23 days. 
    On Monday, Colaba recorded a maximum of 32 degrees Celsius, with 83% humidity, and Santa Cruz 33 degrees Celsius, with 75% humidity. TNN

CRATER MUMBAI: Though the city has received moderate rainfall, potholes have emerged in several areas