BOMBAY FLOOD 2005

BOMBAY FLOOD JULY 26, 2005The 2005 Bombay floods refers to the flooding of

many parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large areas of the metropolis Mumbai a city located on the coast of the Arabian Sea, on the Western coast of India, in which approximately 1,094 people died. It occurred just one month after the June 2005 Gujarat floods. The term 26 July, is now always used to refer to the day when the city of Mumbai came to a standstill due to flooding.

Causes

• The floods were caused by the eighth heaviest ever recorded 24- hour rainfall figure of 944 mm (37.2 inches).

• The root cause of Mumbai’s susceptibility to flooding is its geography, both natural and manmade.

• The city’s location leaves it exposed to heavy rainfall during the monsoon. 50% of the rainfall during the two wettest months, July and August, falls in just two or three events.

• This situation is aggravated by the manmade geography.

• Uncontrolled, unplanned development of buildings affected the flow of water.

• The ecosystems serving as a buffer between land and sea were replaced with construction.

• Excessive use of plastic, plastic which was thrown in river was affecting the flow of water & stuck the water flow.

Effects

Threat to public health• Rain water caused the sewage system to overflow and

all water lines were contaminated.• Animal carcasses and sewage floated in the flood

waters, raising concerns about the possibility of disease.

• Water-borne diseases, caused by either drinking or coming into direct contact with contaminated water.

• Water-borne disease: • Cholera - the WHO estimates roughly 25,000 cases a

year, with a fatality rate of 1%. • Leptospirosis - caused by exposure to water

contaminated with animal urine.• Vector-borne disease: • Malaria - is caused by parasites transmitted by the

Anopheles mosquito.

Financial effect

• Flood caused a stoppage of entire commercial, trading, and industrial activity for days.

• There was a direct loss of about Rs. 550 crores.• Banking and ATM transactions were adversely

affected.• The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National

Stock Exchange of India, the premier stock exchanges of India could function only partially.

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

• 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, submerged Instrument Landing System equipment and extremely poor visibility.

• Rail links were disrupted, cancellation of several long distance trains till 6 August 2005.

• The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was closed the first time ever in its history, for 24 hours.

• 5 million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users were hit for over four hours.

• Transport stats• 52 local trains damaged• 37,000 auto rickshaws spoiled• 4,000 taxis damaged• 900 BEST buses damaged• 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

Other major losses due to the event

• Commercial establishments damaged: 40,000• Vehicles Damaged: 30,000• Electricity supply was stopped in most parts of

Mumbai’s Western Suburbs in the night of the 26th July 2005

• 174,885 houses were partially damaged, 2,000 fully damaged.

Mitigation

A number of works were proposed and undertaken to reduce the city flood risks. The works have been going on over the years and are in various stages of completion

• To study the storm water drainage (SWD)• system and to prepare a scheme for quicker disposal

of runoff thereby reducing flood duration, consultants were appointed. The consultants divided the SWD networks in 121 catchments, studied the deficiencies, identified difficulties in cleaning and maintenance, reviewed design criteria and prepared a Master Plan for augmentation of S.W.D. System.

• The consultants submitted final report in the year 1993, known as

• BRIMSTOWAD Report.

• A fact-finding committee (CHITALE committee) was established by Government of Maharashtrapost 2005 floods to investigate the causes of the disaster and make recommendations to reduce future risks.

• Several recommendations were made, with much emphasis on measures to improve the city’s drainagesystems, including desiltation, widening, deepening and evacuation of encroachers.

• Some engineeringoptions were also suggested in the report which included creation of an urban hydrology authority andinstallation of automatic rain gauges for early warning and a Doppler radar system for the coast of Mumbaias a part of an advanced early warning system.

• Reducing indirect losses from flooding: The ARIO model allows us to assess the benefits of sets ofpolicies that aim to enhance disaster recovery; reducing the lost production due to property damages andtherefore the indirect costs of flooding. Two instruments are explored here: firstly, increasing flexibility inthe capacity of the construction sector, to speed reconstruction; and secondly, the provision of insurance.

• Adaptive capacity of the construction sector: Increasing the flexibility of capacity of the

• construction sector means that damaged buildings and infrastructure can be repaired or replaced morequickly following a disaster, reducing lost production.

Thank YouAnn A9004Annu A9006Zeba A9012Nabeela A9021Rohith A9027Varsha A9037

Semester 9 - Disaster mitigation and Management