24 high-tide days to put BMC’s monsoon preparedness to test

The BMC has already started work on unclogging drains to avoid flooding during the rains and its monsoon preparedness will be put to test on 24 days from June to September, when the city is expected to witness high tides that will rise to 4.5 metres and above. Tides that rise above 4.5 metres are considered dangerous as they result in heavy inundation in low-lying areas and if Mumbai witnesses heavy rain on these days, the city could get flooded.

According to data accessed by HT, the highest tide (4.91 metres) will hit the city shores on June 6 at 1.23pm. On June 5 and 7, there will be tides of 4.87 metres and 4.85 metres, respectively. There will be most high tides during July and August, either at the beginning of the months of towards the end.

Officials from the disaster man- agement unit of BMC said they take special precautions on hightide days by deploying flood rescue teams, fire brigade personnel, officials from the National Disaster Response Force, lifeguards and police officials at the six beaches — Juhu, Versova, Girgaum, Aksa, Gorai and Dadar — in the city.

“We deploy the teams three hours before the high tide and they are positioned there till three hours after the tide. We will also be alerting citizens to keep them away from the shores,” said a senior official from the disaster management unit.