Devotees Immerse Ganpati Bappa Early As Their Homes Get Submerged Under Floodwater In Mumbai

The heavy rains not only brought Mumbai and its suburbs to its knees but also played a spoilsport during on-going Ganeshotsav. In some villages in Navi Mumbai owing to heavy flooding in the region on Wednesday, many people immersed their Ganesh idols early.

According to Mid-Day, many devotees in Navi Mumbai immersed their Ganesh idols that had arrived for a five or 10-day stay as their homes got submerged under the floodwater. As many as 35 Ganesh murtis were unwillingly immersed in the Pargao, Dungi and Bhangaroada villages on Wednesday. Mahendra Patil of Pargao village told the leading daily, "The villagers weren't even informed of a heavy rain situation in advance nor was any help sent their way. Around 100 houses here were under 4 to 5 feet water for almost two days".

Patil further told the Mid-Day, "The festival is very dear to us and Lord Ganesha is almost like a family member when he is here. We, therefore, stayed in our homes until Tuesday night with 1-2 feet water inside our homes but it went up to 4 feet on Wednesday. We saw CIDCO, tahsildar and NDRF officials evacuating Dungi villagers but they said they didn't have the orders to help other villages."

Releasing the rainfall data of September 4, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Disaster Control said the city recorded 127.9 mm (season's total - 2,263.2 mm), the eastern suburbs got 173.4 mm (3,006.3 mm) and the western suburbs notched 186.0 mm (2,765.1 mm). The average for the city and suburbs stood at 102.73 mm and 114.79 mm, respectively, with the season's total averaging 2,358 mm, or nearly 114 percent of the annual rainfall.

At least 15 locations in Mumbai received in excess of 20 cm and 30 cm of rainfall within 24 hours on September 4, as recorded by the BMC's rain gauges in different areas. They include Vikhroli East (35.4 cm), Borivali (33.0 cm), Marol (31.4 cm), Wadala (31.0 cm), Kandivali (30.3 cm), Dharavi (30.0 cm), Dadar (29.4 cm), Andheri East (28.5 cm), Vile Parle (28.0 cm).