Cyclone mayhem in city: Two killed, nine injured
MUMBAI: Two persons died and nine were injured over a span of 24 hours as Cyclone Tauktae passed Mumbai, civic officials said on Tuesday. Two persons were reported missing and are suspected to have drowned in two separate boat accidents. Cyclone Tauktae, an extremely severe cyclonic storm (ESCS) that passed Mumbai shortly after noon on Monday, was the worst cyclone to have skirted the city in at least four decades.
Tauktae, which began crossing Mumbai’s latitude at about 12.37pm on Monday at a distance of about 120-130km from the coast caused huge tidal waves in the Arabian Sea that threw up heaps of garbage near the iconic Gateway of India in Apollo Bunder, Colaba.
A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official said they picked up four trucks of garbage from the premises of the monument in south Mumbai after the storm subsided.
Sangeeta Kharat (45) succumbed to her injuries following a tree collapse. The resident of BDD chawl, Worli, was injured when a banyan tree collapsed on her following which she rushed to KEM hospital for treatment.
Four people were injured in Suman Nagar, Chembur, after a wall of their house which was undergoing repairs, collapsed on Monday. Three of them -Akshay Mali (21), Sudarshan Mali (23), and Aakash Mali (26) were discharged after treatment, while Sagar Hanuman (22) is being treated at Sion hospital and is said to be in a stable condition.
In Kajupada, Borivali East, Kunda Sakpal (40), Sagar Sakpal (25) and Devayani Sakpal (whose age is not known), were injured after a crane from an adjoining construction site fell on their home. They were treated at Krushna hospital and discharged. In Andheri east, a portion of a ground and one storey building collapsed, and a woman was injured. She is being treated at a private hospital, and her condition is stable, the BMC’S disaster management department said. A boat anchored near Madh Jetty was set loose, trapping five people inside. While four were rescued, one is missing. In a similar incident at Mahim causeway, a boat carrying five people was carried into the sea due to gusts of wind. While two swam back to the shore and two were rescued, and one is missing.
Search operations have been suspended, the civic body said in a release on Tuesday.
The storm damaged a sea-facing safety wall and iron gates near the Gateway of India and some jetty stones in the vicinity also got dislodged due to its impact, civic officials said on Tuesday. However, the main structure of the historic monument did not suffer any damage.
“A number of basalt stones near the Gateway of India have got dislodged with the impact of the cyclone and a small portion of the footpath there caved-in,” the official said. The area has been barricaded and the stones collected for repairs, he said. Mumbai mayor Kishori Pednekar visited the monument on Tuesday and reviewed the damage caused in the premises and the cleanliness work undertaken there by the civic body.
“Two large basalt rocks were broken away from the jetty and crushed in the sea. These are capable of accommodating ten people. So we can imagine the intensity of wind and waves. The main structure of Gateway of India has not been damaged,” she said. A senior civic official of the heritage department said, “The parapet on the sea side has been damaged severely, and the iron railing that encloses the entrance on the sea side has also broken. No damage was done to the monument. Repair work has already started.”
The rough sea also dumped tonnes of garbage near the iconic Marine Drive in south Mumbai, the mayor said.
Residents across Mumbai complained of power outages, interrupted internet services, and disruptions in mobile phone networks even on Tuesday. The BMC’S disaster management department’s helpline number 1916 received 9,817 calls from citizens, reporting tree collapses, water logging, diverted traffic, asking for updates, and other incidents.
Sion Koliwada, Matunga, Mahim, and Dharavi experienced power outages for several hours on Monday and Tuesday. “Many areas in Dharavi did not have power intermittently on Monday and Tuesday. Civic authorities carried out repair work on damaged meter boxes as trees or branches fell on them,” Tilak Singh, a resident of Dharavi said.
“Our local internet was cut off on Tuesday, due severe water logging, and tree collapses on Monday,” Nikhil Desai, a resident of Matunga said.
The BMC recorded water logging at 56 places as well as 43 incidents of house collapse, wall collapse or partial house collapse. The civic body also received 39 reports of short circuit, and 2,364 reports of tree collapse or branch collapse due to winds. Out of the 2,364 incidents of tree or branch collapse, 666 were reported in the island city, 595 in the eastern suburbs, and 1103 in the western suburbs. Maximum wind speed was recorded at Colaba pumping station – 114 km/hr -- followed by Britannia pumping station (107 km/hr) and Malvani (101.4 km/ hr) between 8am on Monday and 8am on Tuesday. Several areas in Mumbai reported over 200mm rainfall during this same time, according to data from BMC. The mayor who visited the jumbo vaccination centre at BKC on Tuesday refuted reports of damage to the facility.