Thursday 19 May 2016

India, As I See it : Floods in Mumbai

Most of us would remember that Mumbai was flooded on 26th July 2005.

That morning I was in dadar market, out shopping with my mother.

2:00 pm: 

The 2 lane streets were filling up with water and my Mom and I felt, it was time to start moving homewards, only to avoid an excessive flow of evening traffic.

3:30 pm: 

We walked without finding a single taxi. We soon heard that the local trains had stopped because of the increased water level on the railway tracks; Offices were closing down early to help people get back home to safety.


4:30pm: 

We had walked 2.8kms and reached Mahim Church. By then, we were part of an ocean of people, moving in a single direction.

Each one walking with a single thought, “How will I get back home today?”
Traffic had come to a standstill.


Mobile signals were jammed; All around we saw scores of people, each one moving an inch at a time. 
5.45pm: 

We had slowly but gradually walked 4.4kms and reached bandra. My mother moved homewards and I moved on towards my destination in santacruz.

I was on my own.