From left to right: DM Sukhtankar, Cyrus Guzder, Teesta Setalvad,
Titoo Ahluwalia, Rahul Bose

Complete collapse of Governance in Maharashtra

The deluge in Mumbai and its environs on July 25 and 26 may have been an act of nature. But the shocking incompetence of the state government and the total lack of coordination among the administration, civic and police officials alone is to be blamed for the incalculable loss of precious human lives and property.

To draw public attention to these measures that are crying to be undertaken, Citizens for Justice and Peace organised a press conference on Tuesday, August 2, 2005 at the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh in Mumbai. The well-attended press conference was addressed by Mr. Cyrus Guzder (Trustee, CJP), Mr. D.M. Sukhthankar (former Municipal Commissioner, Mumbai and former chief secretary, Government of Maharashtra), Mr. Titoo Ahluwalia (Trustee, CJP), Rahul Bose (Film Actor), Teesta Setalvad (Secretary, CJP), Dolphy D’Souza (President, Bombay Catholic Sabha), Sumita Kulkarni (Sr. Manager, Child Relief and You-- CRY), and Chayyabehn Megear (President, All India Human Rights Citizens Option).

The following is the press release issued at the press conference

PRESS RELEASE

Mumbai city, Raigad District,  many other parts of the Konkan and now other parts of Maharashtra have received exceptional rainfall on 26 July 05 and for almost a week there after. Since the last two days the overflow of the Koyna and other dam have plunged other areas of the state into crises.

However, within a few hours of the initial cloudburst on 26 July, when the first 20-25 cms. may have fallen, large parts of the city, including its major road arteries, railway corridors, the Airport and large tracts of residential areas, became severely waterlogged. Not only was there large damage to property, dislocation of civic life and unimaginable loss of life. The waterlogging of the city and its environs, the interruption of power supply and telecommunication and the loss of life continued well into the 6^th day after the first downpour.

Several questions need to be posed to government. Citizens across the city, at all income levels and cutting across all professions and occupations, are outraged at the government’s indifference and callousness in its failure to answer them, as also at the incompetence and lack of coordination in dealing with the effects of the city’s flooding.

The questions are:

1. Why does the city become waterlogged – to the extent of completely dislocating all civic life – within the first few hours of a heavy downpour? (Such downpours will occur in every monsoon. The government is deluding itself by saying that this is a once in a century disaster).

2. Why , when for 24 hours, citizens had to endure danger and hardship of waiding through 45 feets of water – much of it filthy- was no policemen, fire brigade officials or man of the city administration visible to guide ordinary mumbaikars?

3. Surronding areas of Mumbai like Mumbra, Kalyan, Ambernath and Badlapur apart from villages in Raigad, Roha and other Konkabn districts have homes of peoples under water for over a week. Why has Army has not been sought to airlift marooned persons and/or reach food packets, water and medicines to persons under distress in these areas?  

4. Why has the government, which includes all wings and agencies of the state and central governments and the municipal corporations, done so little to relieve the hardships of the citizens during this period? (Garbage not cleared: drains not de-clogged; animal carcasses not removed; traffic police absent or helpless; electricity not available in large parts of Greater Mumbai for four-six days after the initial blackout, etc.)

5. Why were the sluice State of dams at Badlapur/Kalyan opened twice on Wednesday night (July 27^th, 2005) and thereafter without evacuation of residents at Diva, Kusa, and Mumbra? (Over 150 are fear dead because of this lapse) (Chiplun town on the Konkan coast has been submerged in 15 feet of water since last night after the Konkan dam overflow)

6. Why was the Maharashtra Government’s well-publicised “Disaster Management Plan” not put into action immediately, i.e., on 26^th evening when a crisis group had apparently met with the C.M. to discuss the alarming situation in Raigad?

7. Why did neither the State Government, nor the Municipal Corporation, set up a Disaster Management Team, headed by a single empowered individual – (Chief Secretary, Municipal Commissioner, or even a Cabinet Minister) – to take charge of the situation, coordinate all relief activities, brief the press frequently everyday and use all channels of the media to communicate directly with citizens?

This Press Conference is being convened to place the issues before the public and to propose a series of immediate, as well as medium to long term, actions steps requires to be taken urgently, to prevent a recurrence of such a disaster.

Among the demands of our Group are the following:

1. Government must take IMMEDIATE steps to bring relief to the doorstep of those who have lost their homes, their means of livelihood and who are now without drinking water and food; and are exposed to sickness and disease. Where areas continue to be underwater, why has the government not taken action to drop relief and food packets by air?

2. There is an immediate danger of epidemics and water-borne diseases spreading, as access is denied and animal carcasses and garbage remain uncleared. An immediate operation “clean-up” should be carried out; and medical and para-medical teams must be deployed to carry out mass inoculation and distribution of basic drugs and medicine. By now government should have pro-actively mobilised all NGOs to team up with municipal workers in the badly affected areas.

3. The Chief Minister should, without delay, nominate a senior person – (whether senior bureaucrat or political leader of cabinet rank) – to coordinate and lead the work of relief and rehabilitation; and restoration of all services. He should brief the press twice a day; and address the public at large day by day on the action being taken.

He should also be available to interact with group of citizens everyday, at fixed times, so as to receive direct feedback and ideas for better execution of the operations.

4. Less urgent but of absolutely critical importance are two further actions in the matter of projects:

4.1 An urgent study to be carried out by expert professionals on the city’s Drainage System; and the Maharashtra Government to revive long pending projects proposed by the World Bank to give Mumbai an effective Storm Water Drainage System (Known as “Project Brimstoward”).

Such a study will undoubtedly reveal that all the unplanned, and ill-planned construction activities of the last two decades has severely interfered with, and reduced the effectiveness of, the city’s drainage system.

Citizens will also have to exert every possible pressure on the BMC early next year to undertake a massive and effective operation to unclog the current drains of the city before the next monsoon.

4.2 A number of pending proposals to upgrade equipment and improve the technical facilities and manpower in the India Meteorology Department at the Colaba Observatory must be implemented. The State Government must pressure the Government of India into sanction this expenditure so as to improve to predictive capability of the I.M.D.

5. Finally, we propose that a number of NGOs in the city join hands to prepare a WHITE PAPER / CITIZENS’ REPORT on Mumbai’s Disaster Management Crises. For this a series of public hearing will be held before a panel of independent experts/retired judges of unimpeachable integrity. The hearings will be held in public with the media present. The evidence taken on record will form a document that will serve as a Citizens Agenda for the City and State Government to act for the future improvement of the civic infrastructure of Mumbai.