The BMC has blamed the weather bureau for "failing" to alert it about the heavy rainfall which lashed the metropolis on Monday resulting in flooding of water at most places, including Mantralaya.
While the opposition parties and citizens came down heavily on the BMC for letting the city down with its total lack of preparedness, a senior BMC official told the FPJ that "The heavy rain was unexpected. We did not receive any alert from the Indian Meteorological Department about heavy rainfall. There are usually 4–5 such days when the city receives over 200 mm of rain, mostly in July. This year, it came nearly two months early."
However, the weather bureau sends regularly alerts to the BMC, the state government, fire brigade and the disaster management cell as a part standard operating procedure. The municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani was on leave and resumed work on Saturday. In his absence, there was no effective leadership at the civic headquarters.
The first rains of 2025, disrupted the city on Monday, taking several areas under water, delaying suburban railway services and bringing road traffic to a grinding halt. The office goers were several affected, with many stranded in the trains and road traffic in the morning peak hours. The flooding had reduced by night, however, the road traffic and rail services ran at a slow pace.
The city witnessed rainfall with thunderstorms from Sunday night and the intensity of rainfall drastically increased by Monday morning. Upto 5.30 pm, the overall rainfall the Colaba observatory recorded was 144.3 mm rainfall and Santacruz observatory recorded 74.3 mm. South Mumbai witnessed the highest rainfall across the city, with areas recording rainfall more than 200 mm.
From Sunday 11 pm to Monday 11 am (in the period of 12 hours), the areas which recorded the highest rainfall in the were: Nariman point (252 mm), CSMT (215 mm), Colaba (207 mm) and Grant Road (202 mm). Some other areas which recieved heavy showers were Malabar Hill (136 mm), Worli (130 mm), Haji Ali (123 mm), Dadar (103 mm), Santacruz (107 mm), Bandra (90 mm), Dharavi (89 mm), Chembur (82 mm) Lower Parel (81 mm)and Kurla (76 mm) among others.
Due to heavy downpour in south Mumbai, several locations witnessed flooding for the first time. Areas like Churchgate station, CSMT exit, Old US consulate area in Breach Candy and Oval Maidan and it's surrounding roads were also waterlogged. The south Mumbai residents blamed the haphazard construction activities and incomplete storm water desilting work leading to flooding. "We can't imagine what will happen if the jetty comes up in Colaba. In future the water logging will spread to areas like BEST Marg, Apollo Bunder, Henry Road, Walton Road can also get flooded if the jetty construction starts," said the members of Clean Heritage Colaba Residents Association.
While the traditional flooding spots like Kings Circle, Sion, Hindmata and Dadar TT among other were flooded. In a disaster like situation, rain water entered BMC-run KEM hospital in Parel. The operations at Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) located on the ground floor was affected by the waterlogging, however, the authorities quickly took actions to resume services. KEM is the biggest civic run hospital in Mumbai.
In another disaster like situation, a portion of a road caved in Kemps corner area of south Mumbai. A BEST bus got stuck, but fortunately no injuries were reported. The BMC started the work on removing the asphalt on the road of the affected area and the road was barricaded.
While, the residents of Mahim were shocked to see a huge iron peice washed ashore near Savera Housing Society. "The locals were shocked to see a heavy metal like structure floating near the sea shore on early Monday morning. It is believed it came from Bandra Worli Sea Link. The authorities sent a boat to take away the floating piece," said Irfan Machiwala, resident of Mahim.
Across the city, from Sunday 8 pm to Monday 8 am, across the city, total 18 short circuit incidents were reported, 32 tree collapses and five incidents of wall collapse were reported.
The early arrival of the monsoon has once again exposed the BMC’s glaring lapses, putting its much-publicized flood preparedness to a harsh test. Dewatering pumps in chronic flood spots were not activated, leaving commuters and residents stranded. In addition, new waterlogged areas were reported, particularly in parts of the city not previously prone to flooding. Civic authorities have now directed the Storm Water Drain (SWD) department and ward-level officials to identify all local flooding spots and investigate the causes of drainage blockages.
While the civic machinery was still scrambling to complete pre-monsoon desilting work, an early monsoon struck Mumbai exposing the unpreparedness of the BMC in dramatic fashion. Chronic flooding hotspots such as Hindmata in Parel, Gandhi Market, Masjid Bunder railway station, the area near Metro Cinema, and below the JJ flyover were inundated during the season’s first spell of heavy rain. According to civic sources, the dewatering pumps in these flood-prone zones had not been activated, as preparations were still underway when the rains arrived. "It was unexpected, and we had not received any alerts from the Indian Meteorological Department about heavy rainfall. There are usually 4–5 such days when the city receives over 200 mm of rain, mostly in July. This year, it came nearly two months early," said a senior civic official.
At Hindmata, one of Mumbai’s most flood-prone areas, dewatering pumps were scheduled to be activated on Sunday, but it was delayed by a day, leading to severe waterlogging. Meanwhile, the mini pumping station at Masjid Bunder remains non-operational, causing rainwater to spill onto railway tracks and disrupt Central Railway services. To make matters worse, new flooding zones emerged in the heart of the city, including areas near Mantralaya and Metro Cinema.
The BMC has now ordered all 417 dewatering pumps across the city to remain fully operational throughout the monsoon season. Abhijeet Bangar, additional municipal commissioner (projects) said, “The pumps at Hindmata, Gandhi Market, and other chronic spots will be now operational throughout the monsoon. SWD officials will identify localised flooding spots and implement relief measures accordingly.”
