Mumbai lost Rs 14,000 cr to floods between 2005 and 2015: Study

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A study conducted by the United States Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) and leading accounting company KPMG has revealed that Mumbai incurred a loss of Rs 14,000 crore due to floods. The hefty amount was lost for various reasons in the period between 2005 and 2015.

The US agencies hired to study the floods, that wreak havoc in the city year after year, also revealed that 3,000 people died due to rain-related incidents during this period. This figure includes the over thousand people who lost their lives in the July 26, 2005 deluge that had brought the Maximum City to a standstill. On that fateful day, Mumbai had received 944 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the highest recorded in the past 100 years,  Mumbai Mirror reported.

Notably, the ‘Flood Management and Vulnerability Assessment To Climate Risk for Mumbai Metropolitan Region’ report was submitted to the state government in August.

In March 2019, Maharashtra’s Relief and Rehabilitation Department commissioned the study, which found out that “major infrastructure development rarely takes into account the level of hazard”. It further adds that the areas that are vulnerable and prone to disasters, are seldom identified.

This is the first time the losses incurred by the city due to heavy rainfall every monsoon, has been tapped and quantified. While the two US agencies put a figure to the devastation the city grappled with for a decade till 2015, the Mumbai Metropolitan Region and its fringe areas have been inundated several times thereafter. Needless to say, had those damages been accounted for, the amount lost would be even more staggering.

For instance, only last week, Mumbai’s lifeline Mithi River swelled immensely due to a high tide situation, resulting in massive floods. In a first in several years, the western line rail tracks were also submerged during this period, while the flooding in Kurla was so bad that 1,500 people had to be evacuated.