It flooded again in Mumbai as 50% of pumps did not work

Machines Did Not Have Fuel, Pipe To Drain Water     More than 50% of de-watering pumps installed in the city's floodprone areas did not work when it rained heavily on Sunday and Monday, leading to several areas getting waterlogged.      The information was given to municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte at a monsoon review meeting, which was attended by all assistant and deputy municipal commissioners. The reasons they gave for the pumps not working included inadequate fuel, unavailability of labour and lack of expertise—in some areas, the people operating the pumps did not know where to divert the water.      The BMC has identified over 180 flood-prone spots and installed nearly 220 dewatering pumps. An assistant municipal commissioner from a ward in the western suburbs said that in his area, five out of seven de-watering pumps were not working. "When we called pump operators, they said not all equipment was on site since they had expected the rains to hit not before June 10."      Additional municipal commissioner Aseem Gupta said the BMC has called all pump operators to its disaster management cell and will ensure they get labourers on board and keep the pumps ready.      Khar residents had complained to the BMC on Sunday about the pump installed in their area, saying the operator had neither enough diesel, nor a pipe to suck water.  Times View: There is no excuse for this      The lack of preparedness for something as routine as the rainy season cannot have any excuse. And the fact that this is spread across agencies indicates that it's a general problem of administrative inefficiency and does not have anything to do with specific, excusable reasons for specific problems. It's a shame that twenty-first-century Mumbai has to go through the same routine of inconvenience and excuses monsoon after monsoon. FLOOD SPOTS      The BMC's disaster control cell has received 84 complaints of waterlogging since Monday morning      Among the spots are Hindmata in Dadar, Parel TT, Andheri and Malad subways, DN Nagar in Andheri, Saki Naka, RCF Circle and VN Purav Marg in Chembur      The BMC has identified over 180 flood-prone spots and placed 220 de-watering pumps there      At least 50% of the pumps have not been working, leading to heavy waterlogging  PROMISE KEPT, ENGINEER SUSPENDED      Municipal commissioner Sitaram Kunte on Wednesday issued suspension orders for the deputy chief engineer (city; stormwater drain department) for negligence. TOI reported about the pending action in its June 12 edition      Kunte has also directed staff to file an FIR against contractors who did not remove safety walls after repairing drains, which led to waterlogging. Fines up to Rs1 crore can be levied on the contractors Flooding at Dadar's Hindmata Junction, an annual rain ritual