The Maharashtra floods of 2005 refers to the flooding of many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis of Mumbai (formerly Bombay), a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the western coast of India, in which at least 1,000 people died. It happened just one month after similar flooding in Gujarat. India is subdivided into 28 states, 6 union territories and a National Capital Territory. ... Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, literally: Great Nation; IPA: )( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... MumbaÄ« (Marathi: मुंबई, IPA: ), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India, with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006)[1]. Mumbai is located on the west coast of Maharashtra. ... Map of the Arabian Sea. ... Heavy Monsoon rains starting later June, 2005 in Gujarat created major flooding affecting many parts of the state. ... Gujarāt (GujarātÄ«: , IPA: ,  ) is the most industrialized state in the Republic of India with 19. ...

The floods were caused by the eighth heaviest ever recorded 24-hour rainfall figure of 944 mm (37.2 inches) which lashed the metropolis on 26 July 2005, and intermittently continued for the next day. 644 mm (25.4 inches) was received within the 12-hr period between 8am and 8pm. The highest 24-hour period in India was 1,168 mm (46.0 inches)in Aminidivi in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep on 6 May 2004 although some reports suggest that it was a new Indian record. The previous record high rainfall in a 24-hour period for Mumbai was 575 mm (22.6 inches) in 1974. A millimetre (American spelling: millimeter, symbol mm) is an SI unit of length that is equal to one thousandth of a metre. ... Mid-19th century tool for converting between different standards of the inch An inch is an Imperial and U.S. customary unit of length. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Aminidivi are an island group in the Union Territory of Lakshadweep, India. ... A Union Territory is an administrative division of India. ... Lakshadweep (Malayalam: ലക്ഷദ്വീപ് []) is the smallest Union Territory of India. ... May 6 is the 126th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (127th in leap years). ... 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Other places to be severely affected were Raigad, Chiplun, Ratnagiri and Kalyan in Maharashtra and the southern state of Goa. Raigad was the capital of Shivajis kingdom. ... Chiplun railway station Chiplun is situated on the banks of the Vashisti River Bahadur Sheik Naka in Chiplun Chiplun (population 60,000) is a city on the Mumbai–Goa highway (NH-17) in western India. ... Ratnagiri is a city in India, located in the southwestern part of Maharashtra State on the Arabian Sea coast, in the Ratnagiri district. ... This article is about a city in India. ... For other uses, see Goa (disambiguation). ...

The rains slackened between the 28 July and30 July but picked up in intensity on July 31. The Maharashtra state government declared 27 and 28 as a state holiday for the affected regions. The government also ordered all schools in the affected areas to close on August 1 and August 2. Mumbai Police commissioner Anami Narayan Roy requested all residents to stay indoors as far as possible on July 31 after heavy rains disrupted the city once again, grounding all flights for the day. July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, literally: Great Nation; IPA: )( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... August 1 is the 213th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (214th in leap years), with 152 days remaining. ... August 2 is the 214th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (215th in leap years), with 151 days remaining. ... The Mumbai Police has the task of policing the vast metropolitan area of Mumbai, one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world. ... Anami Narayan Roy is the Police Commissioner of Mumbai. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ...

Overview

Thousands of schoolchildren were stranded due to flooding and could not reach home for up to 18 hours. The subsequent two days were declared as school and college holidays by the state government. The city region received 73.4 mm (2.89 inches) of rain in the same period, whereas the suburbs received 944 mm (37.2 inches) (the city and suburbs make up the metropolis).

Areas in Mumbai badly affected by the flooding

The rains hit the state of Goa and parts of western Maharashtra on July 25. 11 people were killed in Goa after landslides on National Highway-17, the major highway on this route. The rains moved up the coast and affected the towns of Ratnagiri, Chiplun and Raigad, with many villages swept away in the sudden deluge. Image File history File links Areas severely affected by the 2005 Mumbai floods. ... Image File history File links Areas severely affected by the 2005 Mumbai floods. ... July 25 is the 206th day (207th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian calendar, with 159 days remaining. ... National Highway, is the class of roads maintained by the Central Government in India and is the main long-distance roadways. ...

Adding to the chaos was the lack of public information. Radio stations and many television stations did not receive any weather warnings or alerts by the civic agencies. The Met department blamed it on the lack of sophisticated Doppler radars which would have given a 3 hour prior warning. Doppler radar uses the Doppler effect to measure the relative velocity information from a radar system. ...

Threat to public health

The rain water caused the sewage system to overflow and all water lines were contaminated. The Government ordered all housing societies to add chlorine to their water tanks while they decontaminate the water supply. Public health is concerned with threats to the overall health of a community based on population health analysis. ... Urban areas require some method for collection and disposal of sewage. ... Housing society is a term used to describe residential complexes usually consisting of buildings each having flats (especially in India) Categories: Stub ... General Name, Symbol, Number chlorine, Cl, 17 Chemical series halogens Group, Period, Block 17, 3, p Appearance yellowish green Atomic mass 35. ...

Thousands of animal carcasses floated in the flood waters, raising concerns about the possibility of disease.

Reports in the media warned of the threat of waterborne diseases, and hospitals and health centers geared up to distribute free medicines to check any outbreak.

Map showing wards declared critical areas for being hygienically sensitive

On August 11, the state government declared an epidemic of leptospirosis in Mumbai and its outskirts, later clarifying that there was no such threat anywhere else in Maharashtra. 66 people died of fever suspected to be leptospirosis. 749 people were admitted with such fever, with 41 cases "unstable" and in an advanced stage of the disease. The BMC declared three zones - P South (Goregaon) ward, L ward (Kurla) and H East (Bandra-Kalina) - as criticial areas for being "hygienically sensitive". Image File history File links Wards of Mumbai declared hygiene sensitive based on File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Wards of Mumbai declared hygiene sensitive based on File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... August 11 is the 223rd day of the year (224th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar. ... In epidemiology, an epidemic (from Greek epi- upon + demos people) is a disease that appears as new cases in a given human population, during a given period, at a rate that substantially exceeds what is expected, based on recent experience (the number of new cases in the population during a... MumbaÄ« (Marathi: मुंबई, IPA: ), formerly known as Bombay, is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, and the most populous city of India, with an estimated population of about 13 million (as of 2006)[1]. Mumbai is located on the west coast of Maharashtra. ... Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, literally: Great Nation; IPA: )( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... Indias richest municipal organisation. ... Goregaon (Marathi:गोरेगाव) is the name of a railway station on the Mumbai suburban railway on the Western Railway (India) railway line. ... A ward is an electoral district used in local politics, most notably in England, Scotland, and Wales, as well as Australia, Canada, the Republic of Ireland, New Zealand, South Africa and many cities in the United States and the federal district of Washington, DC. Wards are usually named after neighbourhoods... Kurla is a major suburb of Mumbai. ... Bandra is a suburb of Mumbai (formerly known as Bombay), popularly nick-named Queen Of The Suburbs. It is home to a railway station on the Mumbai Suburban Railway, Western line. ... This article is about a cosmopolitan area in India; there is also an article about Kalina (whale). ...

Topography

Map of India, Maharashtra marked in purple.

India's western coast receives high rainfall due to the presence of the Western Ghats which lie at about 50 km (30 miles) from the coast. The hill range runs parallel to the Indian coast at an average altitude of 1,200 metres (3,900 ft). Rain bearing clouds generally deposit much of their moisture through orographic rainfall along India's western coast which lies on the windward side of the hills. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ... The Agasthiyamalai range of the Western Ghats The Western Ghats are a mountain range in India. ... This wave cloud pattern formed off of the ÃŽle Amsterdam in the far southern Indian Ocean, due to orographic lift of an airmass by the island, producing alternating bands of condensed and invisible humidity downwind of the island as the moist air moves in vertical waves and the moisture successively... Windward is the side of a boat into which the wind is blowing. ...

Financial effect

The financial cost of floods was unprecedented and these floods caused a stoppage of entire commercial, trading, and industrial activity for days. Preliminary indications indicate that the floods caused a direct loss of about Rs. 450 crores (€80 million or US$100 million). The financial impact of the floods were manifested in a variety of ways: ISO 4217 Code INR User(s) India Inflation 4. ...

• The banking transactions across the counters were adversely affected and many branches and commercial establishments were unable to function from late evening of 26 July 2005. The state government declared the 27th (and later, 28th) of July as a public holiday. ATM networks of several banks, which included the State Bank of India, the largest bank of India; ICICI Bank, HDFC Bank, and several foreign banks like Citibank and HSBC, stopped functioning from the afternoon of 26 July 2005 at all the centers of Mumbai. ATM transactions could not be carried out in several parts of India on 26 July 2005 or 27 July 2005 due to failure of the connectivity with their central systems located in Mumbai.

• The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock Exchange of India, the premier stock exchanges of India could function only partially. As most of the trading are eTrading, trading terminals of the brokerage houses across the country remained largely inoperative. Ironically, in partial trading, sensex, the most tracked equity index of India surpassed an all time high and had closed at 7605.03 on 27 July 2005. The Exchanges remained closed for the following day.

July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Outdoor ATMs may be free-standing, like this kiosk, or built into the side of banks or other buildings An automatic teller machine, automated teller machine (ATM) or cash machine is an electronic device that allows a banks customers to make cash withdrawals and check their account balances without... State Bank of India (SBI) (LSE: SBID) is the largest bank in India. ... ICICI Bank (formerly Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India) is Indias largest private bank. ... HDFC Bank, one amongst the firsts of the new generation, tech-savvy commercial bank of India, was set up in January 1995, after the Reserve Bank of India allowed setting up of Banks in the private sector. ... Citibank was founded in 1812 as the City Bank of New York. ... HSBC Holdings plc (LSE: HSBA, SEHK: 005, NYSE: HBC, Euronext: HSBC, BSX: 1077223879) is one of the largest banking groups in the world, ranked the fifth-largest company and third-largest banking company in the world in Forbes Global 2000. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 26 is the 207th day (208th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 158 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Bombay Stock Exchange The Bombay Stock Exchange Limited (formerly, The Stock Exchange, Mumbai; popularly called The Bombay Stock Exchange, or BSE) is the oldest stock exchange in Asia. ... The National Stock Exchange of India (NSE), is one of the largest and most advanced stock markets in India. ... eTrading (or e-Trading) is how people in the financial services industry refer to electronic trading - i. ... Sensex is the common name for the Bombay Stock Exchange Sensitive Index. ... This page meets Wikipedias criteria for speedy deletion. ... July 27 is the 208th day (209th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 157 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world

• For the first time ever, Mumbai's domestic and international airports (including Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Sahar and Juhu aerodrome) were shut for more than 30 hours due to heavy flooding of the runways and extremely poor visibility. Over 700 flights were cancelled or delayed. The airports reopened on the morning of 28 July 2005. Rediff. Within 24 hours of the airports becoming operational, there were 185 departures and 184 arrivals, including international flights. Again from early morning of 31st July, with increase in water logging of the runways and different parts of Mumbai, most of the flights were indefinitely cancelled.
• Rail links were disrupted, and reports on late evening of 30th July indicated cancellation of several long distance trains up to 6th August, 2005.
• Mumbai-Pune Expressway, which witnessed a number of landslides, was closed, for the first time ever, for 24 hours.
• According to Hindustan Times, an unprecedented 5 million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users were hit for over four hours.
• According to the .in registrar (personal communication), the .in DNS servers in Mumbai had to be reconfigured because the servers were not operational.

Transport stats

• 52 local trains damaged
• 37,000 autorickshaws spoilt
• 4,000 taxis
• 900 BEST buses damaged
• 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (IATA: BOM, ICAO: VABB), formerly Sahar International Airport, is an airport in Mumbai (formerly Bombay), India. ... Sahar is an Iranian TV station available on satellite, and not seen in Iran. ... The Juhu Aerodrome located in Mumbai, was Indias first civil aviation airport opening in 1932. ... July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining, as the final day of July. ... July 30 is the 211th day (212th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 154 days remaining. ... August 6 is the 218th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (219th in leap years), with 147 days remaining. ... The Mumbai-Pune Expressway as seen from Khandala The Mumbai-Pune Expressway connects the two main cities of Maharastra. ... The Hindustan Times is a leading newspaper in India. ... The Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited is the government owned telephone service provider in the cities of Bombay, New Delhi and New Bombay in India. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with fixed phone. ... Passengers and drivers meet at this auto rickshaw stand in Chennai. ... The BEST (Marathi: बृहन्मुंबई वीजपुरवठा आणि वाहतुक प्राधिकरण / बेस्ट) or the Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport is Mumbais public transport service and electricity provider. ...

Human tragedy

On 28 July 2005, the BBC reported that the death toll to be at least 430 in the state of Maharashtra. By 31 July 2005 this had risen to at least 1,000. July 28 is the 209th day (210th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 156 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Maharashtra (Marathi: महाराष्ट्र mahārāṣṭra, literally: Great Nation; IPA: )( ) is Indias third largest state in terms of area and second largest in terms of population after Uttar Pradesh. ... July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Deaths in the city were due to

• Total: 406
• Drowning: 233
• Landslide: 120 ; 65 alone were killed by a landslide at Saki Naka. The fire brigade arrived after 15 hours. On July 31, boulders were still being cleared and the count of the dead is rising.
• Stampede: 24 deaths caused by a stampede which occurred due to a false tsunami rumor at a slum in Vile Parle. Residents of low lying coastal areas, who had faced the floods just 48 hours back, panicked and rushed towards higher ground.
• Trapped in vehicle: 126 deaths from suffocation in cars after water levels rose rapidly, preventing escape.
• Electrocution: 12
• Wall collapse: 5; the count may rise as more incidents are tallied (Sunday newspapers report a wall collapse in a school for the first time).
• Diseases: 25, most deaths were due to water borne diseases and leptospirosis.

July 31 is the 212th day (213th in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 153 days remaining. ... The tsunami that struck Malé in the Maldives on December 26, 2004. ...

Factors aggravating the disaster in Mumbai

Antiquated drainage system

The present storm-water drainage system in Mumbai was put in place in the early 20th century and is capable of carrying only 25 millimetres of water per hour which was extremely inadequate on a day when 944 mm of rain fell in the city. The drainage system is also clogged at several places.

Only 3 'outfalls' (ways out to the sea) are equipped with floodgates whereas the remaining 102 open directly into the sea. As a result, there is no way to stop the seawater from rushing into the drainage system during high tide. High Tide was a band that was formed in 1969 by Tony Hill (guitar, keyboards, and vocals), Simon House (violin and keyboards), Pete Pavli (bass) and Roger Hadden (drums). ...

In 1990, an ambitious plan was drawn to overhaul the city's storm water drainage system which had not been reviewed in over 50 years. A project costing approximately 600 crore rupees was proposed by UK based consultants hired by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to study the matter. Implementation of the project would have ensured that rainwater did not flood the streets of Mumbai. The project was planned to have completed by 2002 and aimed to enhance the drainage system through larger diameter storm water drains and pipes, using pumps wherever necessary and removing encroachments. The project, if implemented would have doubled the storm water carrying capacity to 50 mm per hour. NO ONE IN MUMBAI CAN DO ANYTHING EXCEPT TAKING MONEY AND BRIEB The Brihanmumbai Storm Water Disposal System is a project planned to overhaul Mumbais water drainage system. ... A crore is a unit in the Indian numbering system, still widely used in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan. ... ISO 4217 Code INR User(s) India Inflation 4. ... ...

The BMC committee rejected the proposed project on the grounds that it was "too costly".

Uncontrolled, unplanned development in Northern Suburbs

Unlike South Mumbai, development in northern suburbs of Mumbai is haphazard and buildings are constructed without proper planning. The drainage plans in northern suburbs is chalked out as and when required in a particular area and not from an overall point of view. South Mumbai South Mumbai (also referred to as South Bombay) is a geographic region in the city of Mumbai, India. ...

The Environment Ministry of the Government of India was informed in the early 1990s that sanctioning the Bandra-Kurla complex (a commercial complex in northern Mumbai) was leading to disaster. No environment clearance is mandatory for large urban construction projects in northern Mumbai. Officials in the environment ministry claimed that it was not practical to impose new guidelines with retrospective effect "as there are millions of buildings". The Bandra-Kurla complex is a planned commercial complex in the suburbs of Mumbai. ...

Destruction of mangrove ecosystems

Powai Lake, Mumbai on the verge of overflowing

Mangrove ecosystems which exist along the Mithi River and Mahim Creek are being destroyed and replaced with construction. Hundreds of acres of swamps in Mahim creek have been reclaimed and put to use for construction by builders. These ecosystems serve as a buffer between land and sea. It is estimated that Mumbai has lost about 40% of its mangroves between 1995 and 2005, some to builders and some to encroachment (slums). Sewage and garbage dumps have also destroyed mangroves. The Bandra-Kurla complex in particular was created by replacing such swamps. Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 204 KB)Powai Lake mumbai overflowing after rains of 26th/27th July 2005 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (1024x768, 204 KB)Powai Lake mumbai overflowing after rains of 26th/27th July 2005 File history Legend: (cur) = this is the current file, (del) = delete this old version, (rev) = revert to this old version. ... Powai Lake Powai Lake is a large artificial lake, situated in a northern suburb of (Mumbai). ... Above and below water view at the edge of the mangal. ... An ecosystem, a contraction of ecological and system, refers to the collection of components and processes that comprise, and govern the behavior of, some defined subset of the biosphere. ... The Mithi river is in the centre. ... An acre is an English unit of area, which is also frequently used in the United States and some Commonwealth countries. ... The Bandra-Kurla complex is a planned commercial complex in the suburbs of Mumbai. ...

References

• BBC News
• BBC Updates
• CNN News
• CNN Updates
• CNN News
• Mumbai Help A blog dedicated to disseminate information on emergency services, helplines, infolines, relief/rehab organizations and their activities etc.
• Cloudburst Mumbai A blog dedicated for news, links and personal stories related to this tragedy.

External links

• Mumbai Rains pictures and comments An article with more pictures of this incident and user comments
• Photos of the disaster from Yahoo! News
• Give India Donate online to NGOs in India. Donate for Mumbai Disaster Relief and for other causes in all Indian States.
• Helpline Numbers A list of Helpline Numbers
• Mumbai Monsoon Madness An article by Vishal Tayal narrating the monsoon floods of 2005.