Several babus, staff stay back in office after rain water inundates city
Nearly 650 people were stranded at three major government head offices located at Bandra during Tuesday’s heavy downpour. Bureaucrats and visitors at the offices of Slum Rehabilitation Authority, Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority and Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority had to stay put at their respective locations for hours until the incessant rains eased.
Rain water accumulated outside these offices which made it more difficult for people to move out. The authority made food arrangements for them at their office canteens. Security officials said that some of them from SRA and MHADA offices even tried to reach the nearest railway station but returned to the offices as there were no trains on Tuesday.
“Despite our resistance, some of the officials and visitors panicked and even tried to get out and reach railway stations. They returned in a while after finding out there were no trains.”
People were stranded at government offices till morning and started moving out after 7am in the morning. The trains on the Western line started late and were not frequent.
Even as people, who were stranded left for their homes in the morning, the security officials deployed at these offices had to wait till Wednesday night. The security officials are bound to complete their nine-hour shifts. However, they had to wait till the next reliever arrives. Since the Western lines and the Harbour lines were disrupted till Wednesday afternoon, the security staff were on duty throughout.
In addition to this, the nearly hundreds of offices in city’s business hub, Bandra-Kurla Complex, faced similar inconvenience. Several offices announced an early logout and asked their employees to leave at 1 pm.
Prem Das, a Dombivili resident, said, “Our office had provided transport so we left by 1.30 pm. I reached Dombivili by 5pm as there was heavy traffic on the Western Express Highway.”
Commuters said that there were long traffic snarls at BKC area. The business hub witnesses daily traffic congestion during peak hours. Nearly one lakh vehicles ply in this area every day since it also gives easy access for vehicles to connect Western and Eastern Express Highway.
Moreover, several street vendors were also caught unawares and most of their goods were destroyed by the rainwater. The vendors include those selling flowers, foods and books. Many were seen on roadsides to salvage their wares.