Mayor takes a flying toss into murky Mithi waters

Mumbaikars will long remember the heavy rainfall on Tuesday, but mayor Datta Dalvi, who took a flying toss into the filthy Mithi river, will find it harder to erase from memory.

As s a result of the heavy rain, the Mithi river was swollen and had crossed the danger mark and 4,200 people had to evacuated from the river banks, besides more than 3,000 from low lying areas.

The BMC was forced to evict 500 families from Kranti Nagar, and first citizen Datta Dalvi went to supervise operations along the river, from Bail Bazaar to Kranti Nagar in Kurla. Municipal commissioner Johny Joseph also visited the site.

Dalvi accompanied the fire brigade rescue team in a boat, but at 2.45pm the boat upturned. The boat’s engine seized because a piece of cloth was trapped in it. But because of the strong current, the boat slammed into a nearby bridge and overturned.

“It was an accident. I panicked and jumped from the boat, but caught the bars of the overhead bridge just in time. I was wearing a life jacket and am good swimmer. The disaster relief work will continue and I’ll be back here tomorrow,” Dalvi insisted.

Chief Fire Officer AD Zandwal said the accident was because of the strong Mithi current. In fact, a rescue team member who tried to assist the mayor fell into the river himself and had to swim ashore. Shiv Sena stalwarts in the BMC Sunil Prabhu, Ravindra Waikar and Surendra Bagalkar also assisted in the operations.