First day, first show: Did the civic body pass the test?

On Monday, the city witnessed its first heavy showers. Readers share their experience with DNA and find “rain-preparedness” short.

Expert view
Citizens have responsibility too
This year BMC has done a lot to prevent any kind human error disaster. They have cleaned the drainage system and changed the pipe line of the drainage wherever it was required. It shows that they have learnt lessons from the mistakes of previous years. Their staff is also working round the clock to clean up all the drainage and rivers to prevent blockage and water logging.
Also it’s important that we understand that the civic body staff is limited and citizens too have the responsibility of maintaining cleanliness. Dumping plastic is one of the major culprits for blockage of any drainage system which culminates into water logging and further can result in to flood. We cannot prevent such a predicament if we all don’t co-operate the authority.
—Aftab Siddiqui, chairperson, 33rd road ALM

Just the first, worse to come
It’s just the beginning of the monsoon and one can already see that the city is not prepared for them. There was water logging in many areas and of course, the potholes are still there. I live in Chembur and had to face many problems while going to my office in Parel.The city faces such problems every year and still the authorities fail in their preparations to make it a safe monsoon.
—Urja Shukla, customer care executive

Authorities need to keep vigil
The Church Road, Bohra colony road and few inner roads of Marol village are already waterlogged due to existing potholes and absence of storm water drainage. People don’t know what to expect when the monsoon arrive at full throttle. The authorities always claim that everything is under control but that’s far from reality. Can the authorities be more alert so we don’t have a 26/7 deluge aftermath again?
—Mohan Siroya, chairperson

Officials’ claims are flawed
The inaugural heavy showers, every year, expose the ‘monsoon-readiness’ of the BMC. The assurances given by the top officials that there will be no flooding or water-logging have always been belied. The main hindrances in our area was caused by dug-up roads, protruding cables, mounds of un-cleared garbage, and debris strewn around the streets. The roads must be levelled before the onset of monsoon.
—Ramya Kumar, management student

Nothing is done, only promises made
Like everyone else, even I was waiting for the rains to arrive in the city. But I am not happy with the preparedness and the work done by the civic corporation. It is just the initial period and already we can see some areas of the city being flooded. So what are the authorities going to do when the rains lash the city with full strength? Also, I don’t think there is any specific work done by the civic body for the monsoon in many areas apart from the usual suspects. Every year they make promises of better infrastructure but nothing happens.    
—Nicolette Pinto, media professional

Hawkers add to the problem during rains
Monday was the first heavy downpour and people faced their first set of  problems. With flooding of certain areas, it’s already been revealed that there are not proper arrangements for the monsoon as claimed by the authorities. One can imagine what will happen after few more heavy downpours. I don’t trust the civic body to deliver as they don’t do their work efficiently. Moreover, hawkers add to the woes as they have encroached on pavement space and throw garbage all around.
—Sandip Maule, PR executive