As Mumbai grapples with extremely heavy rainfall and flooding, a viral video shows children swimming in the dirty water collected outside the Goregaon Oberoi Mall on Tuesday. The video prompted social media users to comment on how "posh" areas too have to bear the brunt of climate change and civic apathy despite paying high taxes.
"This is the scene in front of Goregaon Oberoi Mall, which is supposed to be the most posh area.
God bless this country and its corruption," X user Thandaitweets (@mohit_blogg) captioned the video, which received close to two lakh views.
In another video, the affluent South Mumbai area, Prabhadevi was also shown to be waterlogged. “This is South Mumbai — Prabhadevi — where you buy Rs 15–20 crore flats. Mumbai rains don’t care,” wrote @s_r_khandelwal, sharing visuals of waterlogged streets in the area.
‘The Mumbai spirit isn’t resilience. It’s survival in a broken system’
Some X users questioned why work-from-home (WFH) wasn’t a default option during such conditions. “Every monsoon, Mumbai’s working class battles 1/2/3 hour commutes, waterlogging and broken trains,” wrote @Shar_worry_. “WFH exists, but needs permission every time. The ‘Mumbai spirit’ isn’t resilience. It’s survival in a broken system.”
@vinayverma99 urged caution: “Stay safe Mumbai. Venture out only if it’s very important. Try to WFH if possible. It’s very heavy downpour here at Royal Palm estate.”
Schools, colleges, and offices shut. Private firms urged to allow WFH
All government and semi-government offices in Mumbai will remain closed on Tuesday in view of the extremely heavy rainfall warning issued by the weather department, the city civic body said. It also appealed to all private establishments across Mumbai to allow their employees to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a statement on Tuesday morning, announced the closure of all government and semi-government offices as a precautionary measure, due to the continuous heavy rains in the city and suburbs and the 'red alert' issued by the IMD. The statement said the decision applies to all BMC offices and state-run establishments, excluding essential services.
"Considering the red alert for very heavy rainfall in Mumbai city and suburbs, all government, semi-government, and BMC offices (excluding essential services) will remain closed today," the BMC said.
Rainfall data confirms intensity
In the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Tuesday, the island city, eastern and western suburbs recorded an average rainfall of 186.43 mm, 208.78 mm and 238.19 mm, respectively, an official said. In the forecast for Tuesday, Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted "very heavy to extremely heavy" rainfall in the city and suburbs with occasional gusty winds reaching 45-55 kmph.
Rainfall during the early morning hours and late evening could lead to traffic snarls as there was 3.75 metre high tide at 9.16 am and of 3.14 metres to occur at 8.53 pm.
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