Mumbai Rains: To north of city, roads turn rivers

Saturday nightrsquos downpour wreaked havoc in VasaiVirarNalasopara and Dahanu areas of Palghar district once again exposing the civic administrationsrsquo lack of preparation Many groundfloor houses were flooded and streets turned into rivers Vehicles parked in housing societies were either submerged or found floatingA boy 4 fell into an open drain in Nalasopara East on Sunday morning and his body hasnrsquot been found yet Fire department officials said they have launched an intensive search operation but waterlogging is making the task difficult ldquoOur search operations to find the child are underwayrdquo Dilip Palav the chief fire officer of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation VVCMC told middayA portion of a bridge near Irani Road in Dahanu was washed away by a flash floodIn Vasai West about 80 cooking gas cylinders washed up on 8 Miles Road Fire brigade officials and police officers rushed to the spot after the reporter posted about it on Twitter Zonal Deputy Commissioner of Police Sanjay Kumar Patil said ldquoWe have called the owner of a gas agency from where the cylinders got washed away to come with the documents to assess the legality to storerdquoAlso read Mumbai Heavy rain gets their goat traders forced to reduce pricesResidents in the lowlying areas of VasaiNalasoparaVirar were affected the most In a midnight operation fire officials rescued several occupants of the shanties Holding on to a rope and carrying their precious belongings including livestock the residents waded through waistdeep water to safetyFire officials rescue residents in the lowlying area of Virar in a midnight operation on SaturdayldquoWe shifted them to a safer place and distributed biscuits and other eateriesrdquo said Vishal Shirke the incharge of Virar fire station However they will have to take shelter in various religious places because VasaiNalasoparaVirar does not have a dedicated ldquotransition roomrdquo said Shiv Sena leader Kiran Chendvankar ldquoThe poor have to suffer every monsoon I have on multiple occasions demanded for a transition room to be used as shelter in such incidents but to no availrdquo She also visited Mitha Ghar in Vasai where salt workers live ldquoFor the past five years their shanties get flooded every monsoon even if there is moderate rainfallrdquoSnake rescued from homeA civic official said a venomous snake was rescued from a house in VirarBoy who fell into an open drain in Nalasopara has been missing since Sunday morning PicsHanif PatelSeveral residents of a posh colony on Irani Road in Dahanu complained of water getting inside the groundfloor of their bungalows They moved to the upper floors and also shifted some of the belongings Some of them had visitors from Mumbai but could not return as their vehicles were damaged said locals Social activist Narendra Patel whose house was also flooded alleged that encroachment along Kankradi river has caused flooding on Irani RoadldquoI have given an application to the Pune green tribunal regarding the encroachment as the Dahanu Nagar Parishad officials do not act on my complaintsrdquoLPG cylinders which were washed away from a gas agency by heavy flooding seen on 8 Miles Road in Vasai WestA transporter Vijay Parekh said ldquoThe muddy brown rainwater entered our bedroom on the ground floor and my motherrsquos belongings started to float We shifted a few of the items to a safer placerdquo Parekh and his neighbours had to call a water tanker to sweep the sludge out ldquoIt stinks a lotrdquo Parekh saidHis nephew Dhrumil Patel a professional snake catcher told midday that a few snakes including venomous were spotted in the area after water started receding Another resident Kunal Mali said ldquoThe current of floodwater was so strong that the upper layer of a bridge near Irani Road in Dahanu was washed away on SundayrdquoA local resident wades through chestdeep water in Mitha Ghar Vasai where salt workers liveBharat Rajput the mayor of Dahanu Nagar Parishad said ldquoIt rained more than we had expected However after water receded we sprinkled mosquito repellent in the areardquo About the damage to houses and vehicles he said ldquoI am asking the tehsildar to conduct a survey in the area and submit a report to decide the further course of actionrdquo