Do not ask for whom the bells toll
it tolls for me and u
an epidemic will hit the page 3 effluent too
it is time to wake up guys
This is the Times of India reporting today
go to MY SIDE pane for todays news
u will hit TOI,
then click on e-paper
KEEP YOUR CYNICISM ON HOLD GUYS, DIS IS IT- ANOTHER DELUGE HAS STARTED
PIL in HC on flood situation
By Clara Lewis/TNN
Mumbai: Powerless and waterless for five days, and plagued by mounds of garbage at every street corner, Kurla seems to be teetering on the brink of an epidemic. Already, workers at the 12 civic health posts here have their hands full treating patients with fever and vomiting— the first symptoms of viral and bacterial infections spread through water. Barely 20 kilometres from the BMC headquarters, in the putrid bylanes of Kurla, women have been washing clothes and utensils in sewage. No wonder then that the last few days have seen a surge in cases of water-borne diseases. TOI toured the area on Saturday and found garbage heaps—even rotting foodgrains dumped by wholesellers after the floods—on the arterial roads, including the Andheri-Kurla road, the 90-feet road and S G Barve Marg. “Since there is no electricity, we cannot pump water,’’ said Marshal Cardoza, a resident of Kajupada whose belongings were swept away. Most of the health posts are unmanned because doctors have been diverted to a greater need, the landslide site in Saki Naka. Some have simply been unable to report for duty, struggling as they are in their worse-hit homes in Kalyan and Ambernath. The health post near the railway station has a lone health worker. The vaccines stored here must have lost their potency as there has been no electricity for the past five days, she fears. But she can’t throw them away until she gets orders. The medicine stock will run out in hours, should a serious infection strike. Municipal commissioner Johny Joseph’s declaration at a press conference on Friday sounds hollow in these beleaguered lanes. It’s difficult to take at face value his assurance that the BMC “had enough doctors and medicines to meet any eventuality’’. Kurla falls in the L ward, which extends from Chunabhatti to Powai. What compounds Kurla’s plight is that it is low-lying and the Mithi river passes through it. ‘Kurla is the filthiest ward and could get worse’ By Clara Lewis/TNN Mumbai: Former municipal commissioner and chief secretary V Ranganathan had anointed Kurla as “the filthiest ward in the city’’. The flood’s aftermath has proved that even this record could be bettered—or worsened. “Garbage has not been cleared for the last three days,’’ cry residents in areas like Jrimari, Sandhesh Nagar, Kranti Nagar, Indira Nagar and Kapadia Nagar which house some of the biggest slums. All this is almost salubrious compared to the inner gullies of the slum colonies, where vehicles cannot reach and garbage has to be removed manually. In Buddha Nagar, local youths have managed to collect the garbage—but they have had no option but to pile it front of some homes. “The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation should provide us with equipment so that we can clear it,’’ say the volunteers. Local officials admit the system has collapsed. For the last two days, 14 of the 28 compactors—procured to counter this crisis—have been non-functional. The local administration has nine JCBs and 29 dumpers when twice as many are needed. There aren’t enough employees and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is still to recruit fresh labourers. “Some of our boys have been working non-stop for 48 hours, and have gone home exhausted. There are no replacements,’’ say officials. Many conservancy workers have not reported to work as their homes have been washed away. “I have been unable to go to work as I lost all my belongings,’’ said Mohan Banpate, a BMC employee and resident of Tanaji Nagar on Andheri-Kurla Road.
Close call for 300 A-I passengers
Flights Delayed After Boeing Overshoots Runway
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: It was a bad case of relapse. Just when the airport was recovering from the paralysing effects of the deluge came a freak dampener. An Air-India aircraft overshot the only operational runway while landing on Saturday morning, blocking the runway for hours together, disrupting flight schedules and stranding thousands of passengers desperate to embark. After the A-I Boeing 747-400 shot off runway 14-32, the only one operational at the time, troubles began for the other airlines. The accident affected peak hour traffic especially in the domestic sector. “All domestic flights took off 6 to 7 hours behind schedule,’’ said an airport source. By afternoon, the scene at the airport could well have resembled a refugee camp. Passengers stranded for as many as four days were stretched out on the floor, while some who had showed up early only to learn of the new disruption took it in their stride by pulling out a pack of cards. Others were not as calm. “The airport is in a mess, there is not enough food and I had to stand in a queue for 15 minutes to buy snacks,’’ complained Govind Raju, a harried Jet Airways passenger who reached the airport at 7.45 am for his 9.20 am flight to Baroda. “It’s 4 pm now and I still have no clue about when will I fly,’’ he said. The pilots of the A-I flight that overshot the runway have been grounded.
Stranded In Mumbai On Saturday
WAITING FOR RELIEF
Thousands homeless in state, loss pegged at Rs 4,000 cr
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Official estimates reveal that property worth more than Rs 4,000 crore has been destroyed and 853 lives lost in torrential rains that lashed the state since Tuesday. Mumbai recorded the highest number of casualties at 409, so far. The immediate task is to dispose of the heaps of garbage littered across arterial roads in the suburbs. “By Sunday, Mumbai’s roads will be cleared of all the garbage,’’ additional municipal commissioner, Manu Kumar Srivastava said on Saturday. Srivastava said the BMC had also drawn up an action plan whereby medical teams will travel to slums to conduct a disinfection drive and to check the spread of any epidemic. Thousands of people were rendered homeless in the floods and landslides in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, among other places. The state administration, which has invited much public wrath for its failure to mitigate the disaster, seems to be slowly gearing up to meet the situation and has started relief and rescue operations on a “warfooting’’. Cash of Rs 1 lakh each has been disbursed to next of kin of the victims in Ratnagiri and Raigad districts. Food packets have also been distributed, officials said.
‘Mumbaiites have a strong survival instinct’
ROSHNI OLIVERA roshni.olivera@timesgroup.com
What is the immediate psychological impact on people following the tragedy? People are still experiencing the after-effects of the disaster, like repetitively talking about what they went through, trying to reach out to others checking if everyone’s safe. There’s insomnia, anxiety among people. This is because of the rumours which are causing panic. Lack of communication with relevant authorities is the problem. Could there be long-term effects as well? Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is commonly known to follow such tragedies. Here, the person may re-experience what has happened and go through symptoms and signs of depression and anxiety at a later date. Are these the ones who have directly been affected? Everybody was directly affected in some way or the other. Either they themselves or their loved ones were lost or stranded and there was no way to find where they were. How does one deal with the trauma? Quite a few people haven’t started work as yet and are trying to get over the shock. One should give vent to emotions and discuss the event with family and friends, as many are already doing. One should focus on normalising life and activities. If symptoms persist one should seek medical help. How much are children affected by this? A lot of children who were either stranded or walked through waters have witnessed sad sights. It’s important that schools and families talk about this with the kids. They may not want to resume studies and other activities immediately, which is fine. It’s said that people can bounce rather quickly.... Mumbaiites will bounce back quickly. They are resilient and have a strong survival instinct.
DR ANJALI CHHABRIA Psychiatrist On how the recent tragedy has affected Mumbaiites psychologically
The epidemic threat
TOI presents the picture citizens see vis-a-vis what civic officials say
By Malathy Iyer & Madhavi Rajadhyaksha
POTABLE WATER The public view: “In the aftermath of the floods, the situation is ideal for epidemics and health disasters,’’ says Ravi Duggal of the Centre for Enquiry into Health and Allied Themes. He points out that pipes carrying drinking water to Mumbai’s homes are old and cracking. “How are we to know that some gutter water isn’t mixing with the drinking water supply?’’ he asks. Considering that rats live in gutters, the chances of an outbreak of leptospirosis is very much on the cards, he fears. Gastro-intestinal disorders, too, are likely. The official view: BMC and state officials prefer to take a rosier view. “We just have to educate the masses on the merits of boiling drinking water,’’ says a BMC official when asked about the epidemic threat. What about the fact that most parts of the city are not getting potable water, and pat comes the reply: “Ask the hydraulic department.’’ SCARCITY OF ALUM The public view: Water supply resumed after three days in some areas, but there is fear that it is unfit for consumption. A corporator claims the BMC doesn’t have alum, a purifying agent, to treat water at its filtration plants. Apparently, it is running short of chlorine tablets as well. BJP corporator Ashish Babaji from Bandra west says, “Though water supply resumed on Friday, people who can’t boil water are at risk as they don’t have access to chlorine tablets.’’ Even tankers may be carrying untreated water. It is left for community or political initiatives to step in. For instance, the BJP is distributing potassium permanganate to societies in Santa Cruz (West) and Khar (West). The official view: “The city gets 10 tankers of alum for its purification plants in Bhandup and Panjrapur. But the traffic jams on the Mumbai-Agra expressway have resulted in only six trucks reaching the city,’’ says BMC’s hydraulic engineer T V Shah. The BMC is expecting the remaining tankers soon. About chlorine, BMC’s executive health officer Dr Jayant Telang insists there is no shortage. BMC’s Alka Karande adds that UNICEF will supply more tablets soon. DRUG SHORTAGE The public view: BMC’s health posts and dispensaries, which are the lifeline of poor people living in slums, have limited medicinal supply, insist corporators and health activists whom TOI spoke to. At normal times too, there have been reports of how BMCrun hospitals write out prescriptions to patients who have to buy them from chemist shops. The official view: Dr Jayant Telang categorically states that “we have not had any drug scarcity this year.’’ There are enough antibiotics, oral rehydration salts, anti-diarrhoeal tablets and doxycyclin used to treat leptospirosis, he says. LEPTOSPIROSIS The public view: The lepto mania seems to be growing. The BJP’s city unit has decided to distribute free doxycyclin tablets to people who waded through water. “To be safe, we will have a doctor assess people who come for the tablet,’’ says BJP’s Shaina N C. Yuvak Prathistan too is distributing the tablets. The official view: Here, the BMC has taken the view that the tablets should not be used as a preventive drug. Dr Telang has clearly said so. “In a preventive role, doxycyclin acts best for people who have not had any previous exposure to the disease,’’ says KEM Hospital dean Dr Neelima Kshirsagar. Doctors harp on awareness Mumbai: Call it irony or skewed priorities, but at a time when medical teams need to be visiting the worst-affected spots in the city, doctors from Mumbai’s medical colleges will be busy raising “awareness’’ about safe health measures.
“Around 400 doctors from medical colleges will be standing on suburban railway platforms to make people aware about safe habits in these times,” state medical education secretary G.S. Gill said on Saturday. TNN
Lack of electricity, heaps of garbage trouble citizens
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: The flood waters have receded, but life in Kurla, Kalina and Saki Naka, the worst hit areas after the deluge, is far from normal. The Mithi river flood has ravaged thousands of homes in these areas. Large parts of these areas are still without power while the list of casualties is on the rise in Saki Naka. Saki Naka: Three bodies were recovered from the Teen Number Khadi chawl on Saturday, taking the toll to 72. Police fear that 25-30 more may still be trapped beneath the debris. While the BMC has brought in generators to carry out the relief operations, Saki Naka continues to reel under darkness. Assistant municipal commissioner A N Khaire said the work of clearing debris was likely to continue for at least two more days. “We have to work cautiously since there is a danger of loose boulders from the cliff falling down,’’ he said. Deputy police commissioner Ravindra Sengaonkar said 200 policemen were engaged in the rescue work. Huge boulders came crashing down on about 130 hutments on Tuesday afternoon but full-fledged rescue efforts began only next day and these too were hampered because of heavy rains and poor access to the landslide site. Appeals were sent to residents living on the other side of cliff asking them to evacuate but few have heeded to the warnings. Kurla: Kurla was one of the worst-hit suburbs where thousands lost their belongings and 40 persons died after the Mithi river overflowed. Several homes along the highway were washed away. Local MLA Naseem Khan said, nearly 20,000 families in slums of Tunga village in Powai, Jari Mari and Bail Bazaar area of Kurla have lost their household items. “Most don’t even have a glass to drink water,’’ he said. He said the tehsildar was conducting a survey and immediate cash relief and food grains will be made available to affected people by the government. Another problem, non-clearance of garbage from roads, has sparked concerns of a health hazard in Kurla. Locals complained that there was no one to spray pesticides in the areas where carcasses were floating. Kalina: Kalina was limping back to normalcy. Stores re-opened and autos and buses moved again but large areas were still plagued by lack of power and dead phones for a fifth day in a row. Fifteen persons lost their lives in Kalina from Tuesday as water levels rose. But there were no casualties on Friday and Saturday. “Reliance Energy officials should have taken help of BEST and Tata Power to restore power if they could not do themselves,’’ complained Kalina resident Abraham Mathai.
Now, Navi Mumbai thirsts for water
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Navi Mumbai: Labelled as the best planned futuristic city across the country in terms of providing basic amenities and infrastructure, Navi Mumbai today is reeling under severe water shortage. The worst affected areas are Dighe, Airoli, Kopar Khairane, Ghansoli, Turbe, Vashi, Nerul and Sanpada. Since the last three days, water has become the most precious commodity for residents of most sectors of Navi Mumbai. The small quantity of water that comes for hardly ten minutes in the mornings and evenings is black in colour. “If we drink this water, we are bound to get some grave illness,’’ says Manu A B, a Sanpada resident. In Sanpada, for instance, residents are forced to buy Bisleri bottles even for their morning ablutions. “The price of one bottle has gone up to Rs 20 now. Even if we are ready to pay this price, there are no bottles left in the shop,’’ says Sibi Satyan, another resident. At many sectors, water has been provided by tankers. “But it is not fit for drinking. We cannot use it for cooking purposes too. Today, the situation is such that even hotels are finding it tough to provide good food,’’ says Harachand, another resident of Sanpada. Vashi residents say that the municipal water has turned muddy and various particles floating in the water are visible. “I tried to use it for cooking rice and the rice turned brown,’’ says Dinesh Narayan, a Vashi resident. “We are getting turpid water,’’ said Vishwrath Nair, a Belapur resident. However, the Navi Mumbai health department maintained that the water is portable . “To avoid the turpidity, all one needs to do is to put a piece of alum in the water, ‘’ the health officer informed. Meanwhile, the municipal commissioner of Navi Mumbai, Madhukar Kokate said that relief measures are being taken and the water supply will become normal by Sunday. “Whatever problem that happened was due to the power failure in the aftermath of the deluge that affected the MIDC supply from Barve dam, CIDCO’s supply from Hetawane dam and NMMC supply from Morbe dam,’’ he said during a press meet today. The MSEB also has assured uninterrupted power so that water supply is restored soon.
THE MITHI RIVER HITS BACK
Unquiet flow the murky waters of Mithi
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Mumbai: Abuse it and then curse it for striking back. One would be hard put to find a river more violated than Mumbai’s Mithi River, which disastrously flooded the suburbs last week. Once it was a river that was navigable—boats sailed down its scenic length during the days of the Raj. Then it became little more than a snaking black glide of sludge, making its squalid journey through thickets of slums, tanneries and factories to hiccup into the Mahim Creek. It was a a readymade nullah, a convenient 14-km long rubbish dump, choking on garbage, effluent, animal dung, debris and anything else that Mumbaikars chose to inflict on it. All this changed, changed utterly last Tuesday when the lashing rain and high tide coincided to turn it into a raging monster, swallowing all in its path. No doubt it will return to its ignoble destiny, but it has served notice of its latent power. Last year, the state pollution control board prepared a report on the rot in the river, and called for the 3,000 illegal industrial units along its banks to be cleared. Expectedly, the survey found very high levels of noxious pollutants in the river. Who’s minding the river? The MMRDA claims that it takes care of the part that runs through the Bandra Kurla Complex, but has no control over what happens outside. Both planning and other state officials have been discussing plans for cleaning up the river, but it needs political will since it will probably require the regulation or clearance of thousands of slums and small industrial units on the river banks. In 1999, when work finally began on the Bandra-Worli SeaLink, reclamation also began at Mahim creek. Many environmentalists had objected to this as it could lead to serious flooding of the suburbs by the further choking of the creek, where the river meets the sea.
He saluted Mumbai’s spirit, today it is city’s turn
By Mohammed Wajihuddin/TNN
Mumbai: Had he been here today, one wonders how Ali Sardar Jafri would have reacted to the combined “tandav” of monsoon, Bombay High fire and rumour-mongers in Mumbai. The poet would have offered balm to his beloved city which is battling crises. As the city recovers from the onslaught of disasters, Urdu Press Club commemorates Jafri, arguably Mumbai’s biggest Urdu poet, on his fifth death anniversary on Sunday. Ghazal singer Seema Anil Sehgal, whom Jafri affectionately called “beti”, will render some of his poems hitherto unsung at a concert. Much before the Shiv Sena asked Javed Akhtar to compose Mumbai’s anthem “Mee Mumbaikar”, Jafri sang paeans to the city’s indomitable spirit, its irresistible allure: “Na jaane kya kashish hai Bombay tere shabistaan mein/Ke hum shaam-e-Avadh aur subah-e-Benares chhod aaye (I don’t know why Mumbai’s night attracts/I came here, leaving behind Avadh’s evening and Benares’s morning).” Well, Jafri could have settled in Lucknow, in Delhi, anywhere, but he made Mumbai his “karambhoomi”. A leading light of the progressive movement in the 1940s, Jafri joined or rather created a creche of creative founts in the city. He brought in Kaifi Azmi, then a struggling poet in the backwaters of Uttar Pradesh. The rest, as the cliche goes, is poetic history. Fiercely liberal and essentially a peacenik, Jafri wrote with a rare passion. When many many poets in the sub-continent followed their jingoistic politicians, Jafri raised a banner of “aman” (peace). At the height of 1965 Indo-Pak war, Jafri reminded Pakistan of a historic truth: Hamare dard mein tum aur tumhare dard mein hum/sharik hote to jashne ashiyan karte (We would have shared our sorrow/And then we would have celebrated the beauty of our homes). Instead of fuelling the fire, he quelled the shells, proposing a roadmap: Tum aao gulshan-e-Lahore se chaman bardosh, hum aaein subah-e-Benares ki roshni lekar/Himalaya ki hawaon ki tazgi lekar/Aur iske baad yeh poochein ke kaun dushman hai (You bring the fragrance from Lahore, I will come with Benares’s beautiful morning and the Himalaya’s fresh winds/And then we will see who is the enemy?” (Seema Anil Sehgal will present poems of Jafri at Central Institute of Fisheries Education’s auditorium near Seven Bungalow Garden at 6.30 pm on Sunday, July 31)
Now the vultures move in
i hear Udhay Thakeray and Rane competing for votes out side my window
these bastards shud be in Kurla not in dis locality
THE SPEAKING TREE
When Self Comes Before Spirit of Sacrifice
By SHANTANU NAGARKATTI
www.mumbaimirror.com reports today
All 40 families wiped out in Raigad village
Thank you, Mumbai!
UK-based Michael Marienfeld is town on business and was caught in the rains.
He thanks each nameless stranger who helped him,
and salutes the grit and humour of the city
Crisis is a great leveller,
for earlier this week I felt like one of the many Mumbaikars who were thrown together to brave the odds of a natural calamity.
Like most people in the city, I was stranded on the streets on Tuesday.
I thought I’d cave in, but my experience reinforced the belief that India is one of the best countries in the world to live in.I was caught in the downpour while at work in a factory in Vikhroli.
After the water started rising to dangerous levels and the power supply snapped, we decided to close the factory.
The journey back to the Renaissance Hotel, where I am put up, took close to four hours. I am a stranger to the city and know very little of the language.
But I was overwhelmed by the support of the people I was surrounded by.
The cabbies and the labourers from the factory helped me get from one place to the other. Owners of private cars, as well as autorickshaws and buses showed me the way around.
And when all else failed, they showed me which way I need to continue walking, with water often reaching up to my chest.The spirit and helpfulness of everyone I met, speaks for the nation and especially for the people of Mumbai.
I was able to observe first hand, how people who had longer ways to go and faced bigger challenges than mine, supported each other as best as they could.
Everyone was helping everyone else, and when everything else failed, a friendly word and smile kept the spirits up. I am proud to have been in the company of people with such grit and humour, although I did not manage to get their names.
I shall continue to work in Mumbai for as long as I can. And I believe that given the positive spirit of the Indians, the country will continue to grow and become a leader in world economy.
annony mouse: O GOD why? why did u make your ppl cry?
God: mumbaikars were too focussed on the rat race, they neglected friends, family and were chasing a dream
they were caught up in dis mad Gold Rush,
to gain riches instantly
name and fame
even when one of their fellow commuters fell of the crowded train
they wud not pull the chain
they didnt want to be late for work
i tink these guys have changed
Now, i saw rich and poor,
Hindu and Muslim, the Brahmin and the poor castes
hold hands and form a chain to cross dat stream
and they saw dat the poor and the rich hurt the same
it is only a reminder dat in the final analysis
a CITIBANK card is just plastic
they have been chasing plastic dreamz
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