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Highlights
During the most trying times, the service, touted to be Mumbai's second lifeline after the
suburban network, didn't disappoint its commuters.
Although some buses broke down, the number was few.
A BEST bus trundles through the
waterlogged Khar SV Road
MUMBAI: On a day when Mumbai's lifeline let down its commuters, its second 'BEST'
transport service bailed them out.
As torrential downpour flooded tracks and sunk the suburban railway network on Tuesday,
BEST buses proved to be the saviour for lakhs of Mumbaikars, braving the chaotic traffic
situation on the roads to reach them home safely albeit a little late.
The transport service, which has run into huge losses and has been in the news of late for all the
wrong reasons, redeemed its image with the authorities plying over 100 additional buses besides
the 3,400 vehicles that run on the roads daily. Although some buses broke down, the number was
few.
Chembur resident Vishal Ramchandra Chauhan agreed."I work in the share market. When the
rains worsened, I left my office. I got a BEST bus from Colaba. Now, I know that I will reach
home," Chauhan said.
Another commuter, Harendra Singh, who works in Wadala and boarded a BEST bus on his way
back home to Vashi, thanked the transport service. "In the morning, I had taken a train to reach
my workplace. My office shut early because of the rains, but when I stepped out, the local trains
were not plying. I managed to get a BEST bus and though it took me one hour 50 minutes to
reach Sion Circle from Wadala, I am glad that I am not getting wet," he said. Sangam Devraj, 35,
a resident of Santacruz, was happy to find himself a spot in a cramped BEST bus ferrying
passenger from Marin lines to Tardeo. Devraj, who works as a labourer in Colaba, was stuck
when he reached Churchgate station to catch a train back home.
Devraj said, "We did not know where to go as we do not know anyone in this part of the city, but
thankfully, BEST buses were still available."
Monsoon are equivalent to falling ill.Bajaj Allianz
Many like Sandeepa Dhebri (46) were turned down by the kaali-peelis, and app-based cabs like
Ola and Uber and BEST proved to the best bet for them. "None of the taxi drivers was ready to
take me. But to my surprise, BEST buses were working," said Dhebri, who works on Pedder
Road.
For the BEST authorities, it was a moment of honour that during the most trying times, the
service, touted to be Mumbai's second lifeline after the suburban network, didn't disappoint its
commuters. BEST public relations officer Manoj Varade said, "We are glad that we were able to
serve so many people at such a crucial time. We plied 109 extra buses and lived up to our
reputation of being Mumbai's second lifeline. When the trains are down and the entire city is
under water, our priority is to ensure that the service keeps going. Although the service was
slow, our objective was to ensure that everyone reached home."
Top Comment
Critics please appreciate this effort.Dhanvanthri
He added that they had set up a separate cell to monitor the bus services, while the general
manager had asked all depot managers to start allowing the buses to leave once a sizeable
number of passengers boarded the vehicles.
BEST drivers also responded to the call of the hour. Sunil Ramchandra, who had been working
since 5 am, said, "I am continuously getting calls from family members and friends, who are
asking me to go back home, but I decided to work."
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Dhanvanthri
Dhanvanthri - 13 hours ago
Reply 6 0 Flag
raghu240510
2091
raghu240510 - 13 hours ago
BEST IS BEST
Reply 6 0 Flag
Dhiren
Dhiren - 13 hours ago
Thanks BEST. We appreciate your responsibility and commitment towards Mumbai citizens.
Don't care for what negative people say about you. For me you are the 'BEST' bus service in the
world. Despite making loss you are still serving us. Very creditable service.
We salute you because you are the BEST.
Reply 5 0 Flag
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Highlights
Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra and people on roads were forced to
walk in waist-high water. As the situation improves today, here are some key developments.
Commuters walk through water-
logged roads after rains in Mumbai on Tuesday. (Photo credit: Reuters)
* Local train services resume on Western Line and the Central Railway has also resumed
services from Kurla to Dombivali.
* Central railway has resumed services from Kurla to Dombivali, reports ANI.
* Rainfall recorded till 5.30 am today by IMD Colaba is 110.6 mm and at Santacruz observatory
it was 328.0 mm.
* Roads are normal all over Mumbai except little water-logging at Sion: DCP PRO Mumbai
Police.
* BEST is operating extra buses from CSMT towards Thane via eastern free way on Routes C8
and C42.
* Metro rail services are also functioning normally between Andheri and Ghatkopar.
* IMD warns of "extremely heavy rainfall" in next 24 to 48 hours, NDRF, and other rescue &
relief teams on alert.
* Rail, road & air services interrupted due to heavy rains; schools, and colleges to remain closed
today, says Maharashtra govt.
* After the rains came the power outage and most parts of the city, especially the suburbs, was
plunged into darkness. The electricity cuts, which lasted for over four hours in many areas,
inconvenienced lakhs of consumers.
* Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and other parts of Maharashtra and people on roads were forced to
walk in waist-high water.
* Heavy rain caused traffic jams throughout Mumbai, and subways at Andheri, Santacruz and
Khar were shut.
* And while many Mumbaikars were stranded in their offices, thousands on the roads were
forced to walk in waist-high water in parts such as Khar, Linking Road and SV Road in Bandra,
Lalbaug, Kalina, Hindmata (Dadar) and Sion.
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Australian Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment Steven Ciobo was scheduled to visit the
BSE and the BSE Institute here tomorrow to promote Australia-India investment and education
ties but it has been due to the "inclement weather conditions" in Mumbai, the Australian
Consulate here said in a release.
Ciobo was to ring the opening bell of the BSE before addressing students from the BSE Institute
and meet its leadership to highlight the growing interest of Australians to invest in India, the
release said.
Ciobo's visit was scheduled to highlight existing partnerships between Australian and Indian
education institutions and also interact with BSE Institute students pursuing higher studies in
Australia, it said.
The minister is in India for the 'Australia Business Week in India' (ABWI), an intiatiove of the
Australian government to expand the country's trade, investment and education ties with India.
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Though Mumbai had got 944mm rain on 267, Tuesday's intensity can be gauged from the fact
that many areas received over 200mm rain in sev en hours from 8am to 3pm, which is considered
"extremely heavy" by meteorologists.The highest was in Worli, which recorded over 300mm (12
inches) in less than 12 hours.
Mumbai's lifeline, the suburban railway network, was paralyzed. By 12.20pm, with many
stations waterlogged, Central Railway suspended services on both Harbour and Main lines, and
Western Railway suspended services twice in the afternoon. CR services were not resumed later
in the day .
There were major traffic snarls with the Eastern and Western Express Highways severely
congested and motorists taking 2.5 hours to commute from Kandivli to Andheri. Heavy traffic
was reported on Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, approach roads to Eastern Freeway , JVLR and
Bandra-Worli sealink. Heavy rain caused traffic jams throughout Mum bai, and subways at
Andheri, Santa cruz and Khar were shut. And while many Mumbaikars were stranded in their
offices, thousands on the roads were forced to walk in waist-high water in parts such as Khar,
Linking Road and SV Road in Bandra, Lalbaug, Kalina, Hindmata (Dadar) and Sion. Five places
not known to flood normally were also waterlogged: Kemps Corner, Worli (towards sealink),
Bhandup (W), Andheri market and parts of Saki Naka.
While BEST buses ploughed through and traffic police tried to clear jams, commuters
complained of unavailability of kaali-peelis, autos and aggregator cabs (and of overcharging by
the few available). Mumbai police warned motorists that if water reached the level of the tyres,
they should abandon the car. "Being on your 2 feet may be uncomfortable but safer," they posted
on their Twitter handle which also put out various helpline numbers. There was a flurry of
messages, warnings, advisories and help offered by Samaritans on social media.
Deputy municipal commissioner Sudhir Naik said, "This is an exceptional situation. The high
tide coupled with gusty winds affected the water-receding capacity ." The BMC late Tuesday
evening cancelled all leave and asked its personnel on leave to return to work.
PM Narendra Modi tweeted, assuring the Centre would support the state in "mitigating the
situation due to heavy rains in parts of the state." "Urge the people of Mumbai and surrounding
areas to stay safe and take all essential precautions in the wake of the heavy rain," the PM said.
CM Devendra Fadnavis declared a holiday at 4pm and state government employees were told to
leave early.
Flight operations were hit because of poor visibility , with 10 flights cancelled, seven diverted
and 13 that were on approach to land forced to abort the descend and to do a go-around.Flights
into and out of airport were delayed by 30-60 minutes.
Rain flooded hospitals too.Water entered the ground floor wards of KEM Hospital in Parel,
forcing the hospital administration to shift around 50 patients to higher floors. Dean Dr Avinash
Supe however said medical services did not suffer.
Along with the rain came power cuts. A citizen of the western suburbs, Taherreh Jalali Dashti,
said lights had been disconnected in Khar-Danda, Pali Hill, Carter Road, Bandra (E) and parts of
Santacruz (W) since 4pm. Consumers in the eastern suburbs of Ghatkopar, Bhandup and Mulund
too went without electricity for hours.Power utility firms said the outage was a "preventive
measure" to prevent mishaps. Most school and college students escaped the rain fury owing to
the ongoing mid-term Ganpati break, and those that were open sent back their students early .
Ten NDRF teams were despatched by the Centre, and the Navy , whose team was on standby ,
put up four rain shelters for stranded Mumbaikars.
A two-year-old from Vikhroli, Kalyani Jangam, died in a house collapse caused by rain in the
Parksite area. Two persons drowned and one went missing after they were swept away in nallahs
in Thane district. Thane received 289mm rain, and Navi Mumbai saw rainfall of over 121mm in
11hours.
DadarParel were one of the worst af fected areas in the city, recording 230 mm rainfall in 5
hours. The geo graphically low-lying area of Hindmata and Dadar TT junction were flooded as
commuters tried to wade through waistdeep water to reach Dadar station. Harried commuters
were seen standing on the roads, asking for lifts to reach their destinations after the suburban
network on Central, Western lines was suspended.Cars were abandoned on roads leading to
Dadar station, resulting in bottlenecks and causing a massive jam. Snarls were nearly 3-4 km
long, with BEST buses taking over 2 hours to cover a few metres.
"I boarded a bus from Hindmata to go to Kalachowkie. The bus was stuck on the Hindmata
flyover for over 2.5 hours without moving at all. I finally got off the bus and started walking,"
said Sneha Shinde, a student.
MatungaSion recorded 253 mm rainfall in five hours. Waist-high water was seen at Matunga
circle, Sion circle, Jain society, Gandhi Market.Water entered many shops in Gandhi market.
Residents said there was more than 3 feet water near Matunga police station and de-watering
pumps deployed by BMC had stopped functioning. Amongst the inconvenienced were officials
from Matunga police station, who had a tough time returning from Dadar to the station after
dropping Police commissioner DD Padsalgikar, who was in Matunga to visit the famous GSB
Ganpati mandal.
"There was a bus ferrying students home from school that was stuck in Gandhi Market for more
than two hours. Parents rushed to fetch them," said Nikhil Desai, a Matunga resident. He also
said the entire Sion station was flooded, affecting train services. TNN
Kurla station was submerged with in a few hours of rainfall. Trains came to a halt between Kurla
and Sion on Tuesday morning and water levels continued to rise by afternoon. Increased
intensity of rain led to poor visibility in the area.
Residents complained water entered their houses in the morning. Some residents in Kalina had to
drill holes in their walls to allow water to flow out. Power supply was cut off in most areas of
Kalina since afternoon.
Priyanka Borpujari, a resident of Maria Mansion in Kalina, said they tried calling the BMC
disaster control office in the morning, but they arrived only in the afternoon. "The BMC guys
came late and that too without a pump. The houses on the ground floor were submerged in
kneedeep water," she said.
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MUMBAI: After the rains came the power outage and most parts of the city, especially the
suburbs, was plunged into darkness. The electricity cuts, which lasted for over four hours in
many areas, inconvenienced lakhs of consumers.
Power utility firms said the outage was carried out as a "preventive measure" to prevent electrical
mishaps due to incessant rain and waterlogging. Mumbaikars were, however, left in the lurch.
"We are worried about our relatives who are stranded due to the rain. The cellphone is the only
mode of communication and now we are unable to charge them as well," said Smita Kulkarni, a
Santacruz resident.
A BEST official said, "We received calls from customers regarding the power cuts and attended
to these complaints. Some of them had occurred due to waterlogging in cables and near junction
boxes." Several consumers complained of power cuts in the eastern (Ghatkopar, Bhandup,
Mulund) and parts of western suburbs, but sources in the power utility firms said power
distribution was temporarily stopped and may be "restored soon".
There was ]power disruption at Sion hospital for 2 hours, but they had back-up and it was
restored.
A Reliance Energy spokesperson said, "To ensure safety of our customers, we resorted to
switching off some of our sub stations where water has reached dangerous levels and it is unsafe
to supply power. We have deployed pumps to take out water from the stations.Our disaster
control room have deployed over 250 teams on field to immediately respond to our consumers.
We have kept boats on standby to respond to any emergency ."
Residents from various parts of the suburbs, including Kurla, Dharavi, Santacruz, Chembur and
parts of Thane and Kalyan complained power cuts continued for more than four hours till
evening.
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