Dinesh Kamath's news 'City witnessed good rain during the last few days' that was published in Newsband

City witnessed good rain during the last few days

By Dinesh Kamath

NAVI MUMBAI: It is good to see water levels in all dams that supply drinking water to Navi Mumbai having gone up because of heavy rainfall during the last few days. The levels of Barvi dam, Morbe dam, Ransai dam and Hetawane dam have improved substantially owing to heavy rains which have obviously pushed the dam's level up.

The weekend downpour brought cheer to most city dams but also a host of monsoon hurdles. The craters made some places quite dangerous and fatal mishaps could not be ruled out. There were bikers who met with minor or major accidents. There were a host of monsoon hurdles. For example, troubled residents faced waterlogging and braved pothole-riddled stretches that slowed down vehicular movement on arterial and internal roads. Some roads got further damaged by the incessant rain, which caused craters along the asphalt stretches. The motorcyclists were finding it difficult to gauge the depth of the craters.

The city witnessed waterlogging in several areas. Subways were flooded and motorists continued to have a bumpy ride. The motorists’ plight is being ignored by authorities who are yet to fix the potholes on the busy stretches. There were trees that got uprooted and some ground-floor houses damaged in the city owing to rain. Tree falling in certain areas made the contingency teams of NMMC and Cidco swing into action on time. Waterlogging and potholes in the developing Cidco nodes invited criticisms from the city residents who had a tough time during the rains.

The monsoon also set off water borne diseases and the city doctors were busy advising the residents about precautions that they should take under such situations. The residents were asked to steer clear of outside food and water and ensure that the water they drank was filtered. They were asked to avoid contaminated water and drink clean, boiled and filtered water.

The rain certainly proved to be a respite from the heat.  The water collected was far from clean and healthy. Children were given vaccination to ensure safety from the virus.

Commuters of NMMT buses had to face tough time during the rain since there were some buses which had leaking roofs and panels. The commuters had to sit with opened umbrellas while travelling in NMMT buses. On receiving the complaints from bus commuters, the NMMT officials did get into action by starting to check the condition of all their buses. They are now checking the buses before they leave from the depots. The commuters have been asked to note down the number of the leaking buses. It was decided that the leaking buses would not ply till they were repaired completely.

Heavy rain has resulted in filling the dams in Navi Mumbai to a considerable level and this will make possible proper supply of water to all the city residents for many months.  As compared to last year at the same time, this year the city has received better rainfall. This year, city areas under NMMC received more rainfall in the last week of the month, a reversal in trend compared to 2015. The best thing is that new norms have been set by civic commissioner Tukaram Mundhe for daily supplies soon after he joined office. The downpour has helped in ground water recharge too. The good city rain has come as a relief and there is much more greenery visible all around.