Travails of Vasai’s people when the Mumbai suburb turned an island

Water-logged streets, no supply of essentials like milk and bread for four days, lack of medical aid... This was the lot of th people of 100 Feet Road at Vasai near Mumbai as incessant rain lashed the island city. Suncity Vasai was marooned, with most residents left to fend for themselves.

Mumbai experienced its heaviest downpour from Saturday till Wednesday, with the area surrounding Palghar district, facing power-cuts till Thursday evening, as water had not receded.

Three days of rain and the entire area went under, with municipal authorities conspicuous by their absence. Residents were left to help one another with food and essentials and even carrying the dead to the crematorium on a makeshift cot.

Earlier in the week, the Army had to be called in to help rescue passengers stranded at the adjoining tailway station.

“The huge open ground next to our building, which has always been a scenic backyard, was flooded. The road leading to the neighbouring residential area Suncity was completely under water,” said Shweta Nair, a resident of Vasai.

From her seventh floor residence, all that Shweta could see was water for miles around. “Our building was almost an island. As the rain got heavier by the hour, the water level continued to rise. All the residents on the ground floor started panicking as the rain showed no signs of relenting,” Shweta added.

Even in 2005, when rain gad devastated Mumbai, Shweta and other residents of Palghar district had not faced such a situation. “Then the rain water had receded in a day or two. This time round though, three days of rain and the whole area came to a standstill,” said Priya Kapse, another resident.

The Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation got into action on Tuesday afternoon, moving around on boats and aided by a disaster management vehicle and fire engines.

Residents said they were catering only to emergency situations, with officials helping some children get medical aid and senior citizens to safer ground. For the others, all means of transport had come to a halt. “We became isolated even from the next building as sewage water was swirling around and no one wanted to risk wading through it. Since there was no electricity, mobile phones could not be charged. Some people went over to their cars parked on an adjoining high ground and charged their mobiles with the car battery,” said Shweta.

The nightmare continued as a large part of Vasai continued to be without power for three days. Many households were running short of food, too. “We were running out of potable water, cell phone batteries were draining... and darkness all around. It was terrifying, especially at night, since there are snakes,” said Shweta.

Though the rain abated on Wednesday, there was no rekief for the residents as the water level did not recede, and many people complained of water snakes, frogs, and fish invading their flat complexes.

With no drinking water for four days, the situation had become rather grim. One innovative building society decided to use the water tank set aside for emergencies and fire fighting to supply four buckets of water to each resident through a hose pipe from the fire-extinguisher system, said a resident.

Power was restored on Thursday evening and shops opened. Life is still limping back to normal.

As a resident bemoaned: “Officials of the Vasai Corporation only come to our doorstep during election time pleading for votes. Where were they when we needed them the most?”