Investigating Mumbai's Disaster Plan

30 September 2005 - 12:00pm

After monsoon rains exposed the inadequacies of Mumbai's civic agencies, India's leading newspaper investigates what measures are in place to avoid a repeat of Mumbia's July 27th floods.

Rediff investigates Mumbai's preparedness for disaster in the aftermath of the heavy monsoon rains that flooded the city in July. Rediff.com talks to various agencies to realize how fragmented and haphazard disaster planning is in India's commercial capital.

"Regarding buses, Kshatriya says BEST understands how important its responsibility is in case the trains stop. 'We have developed a two-pronged strategy. We have identified low-lying areas along the rail line and also in places where train services are not available. We have deployed 400 buses connecting these low-lying areas to the train stations. In places where reaching a train station is difficult, we have identified depots in higher planes, where people can be moved,' he said."

Source: Rediff, September 29, 2005
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Short of erasing existing political and jurisdictional boundaries, citizens and officials need to develop the capacity to work across boundaries according to the "problem-sheds" of the land and water issues we face in the 21st century.