Mumbai Rains: ‘Corruption’ Left You Stranded, Says Environmental Journalist Darryl D’Monte
Veteran environmental journalist blames corruption for Mumbai’s ‘Terrible Tuesday’
A day after severe rains brought Mumbai to a standstill, the city limped back to normalcy on Wednesday. Nearly 300 mm of rainfall on August 29 left the financial capital stranded as train services were disrupted and commuters were left to trudge through waist-deep water. But are the weather gods alone to blame?
“That is far too convenient an excuse,” veteran environmental journalist Darryl D’Monte told BloombergQuint. According to him, “There is no other explanation but a corrupt and inefficient city administration.”
Corruption within the administration has stalled de-silting of ‘nullahs’ or natural drains criss-crossing the city - an essential part of monsoon preparations, D’Monte said, “Corrupt contractors fabricate their work and and a corrupt BMC’ certifies the job.” Roads don’t withstand heavy rains because a “cartel of contractors who shuffle these contracts among themselves”, he added.
Another factor cited by the veteran journalist is the inability of the civic administration to spend money on cleaning up Mumbai’s drains which would help pump out excess water during heavy rainfall. “The Brimstowad project to clean up Mumbai’s drains had a budget of Rs 600 crore in 1993,” he explained. “Only Rs 260 crore has been spent so far”.
Besides, rampant construction on mangroves, wetlands and salt pans have blocked outlets for rain water to drain out from the island city.
“It is a blot on the face of the country which wants to say ‘Make In India’, when we are unmaking the financial capital,” he concluded.