This is about the "rainy tuesday" as we bombayites have named it (26th july 2005).
I had posted this on some other blog but didn't get time to do it here.....darn, better late than never...me and a colleague's heroics of the day!!
The weather bureau as usual didn't forecast a cloud-burst or heavy rains for this day. It seemed like just another rainy day, as i reached my office in Andheri(east) dry. At around 12:30 noon it started to pour like mad. We all saw small streams of water turning into flood inside half an hour and this was just the beginning.
Initially all thought that it was heavy rain alright and that it would subside in an hour or so, but no, it just kept pouring. To add fuel to fire (well contrary to the situation), the electricity went off. Most of us at the office were then headed to the conference room to play ping-pong!!
Time passed by....few colleagues who stay far off in Thane area left in a colleagues car... only to return after some time....the reason being all the roads were choked. The pre-monsoon harakiri done by BMC and MUIP in the name of road-widening is the primary reason for this mess, i must say.
It started to get darker so I decided to make a move to home at around 5 P.M. Me, Melvin, Parthiv and Ketan left the office after trying to convince Jiten, Bala, Saple and co to do the same. It was a deluge of water and people alike on the roads beginning at MIDC. The flow of water was so much that one could easily get drifted by it. I wondered how deadly was the flow of tsunami. I being an expert swimmer felt like this then how about a layman?
We reached highway and decided to go via Andheri flyover to avoid the station road in the east. The local motor mechanics were having a field day catering to hordes of bikes and cars affected by the flood-water. The traffic cops were far and few and so the traffic never really moved. Looking at the chaos I wondered what would happen if a man-made calamity (like a bomb scare) were to strike at this time. Man, this was scary.
In the mean time we reached andheri flyover where Ketan and Parthiv went home. Me and Melvin continued our adventure ahead. Andheri west station road was real bad. The fire-brigade had come in and were not allowing people to go towards the subway as it was under water by then. We tried to guage the water level and found it impossible to go ahead. A local uncle, who was suggesting alternative routes, suggested to go on the tracks or go via cama road that leads to Bhavans college. At this point I thought of taking the tracks but somehow couldnt leave Melvin on his own. So I decided to take the other long route.
On the way to Bhavans, Sami called me up (I remember, he had left his office at Crystal plaza at 3:00). He was stuck at the road leading to the station. Since I had seen the scenario there, I adviced him to stay there in the building till the situation improves. If Sami were somewhere near, I would have picked him up.
This route we took passes though slums. On our way down towards Bhavans, it started to pour like mad, the water falling from the roofs of the houses on both sides......total darkness added to our woes. I told Melvin that this was straight out of some Jackie Chan movie. We were constantly ruing the fact that we left office, but I kept on assuring Melvin that we will reach home safe.
Outside Bhavans it was pitch dark and the water was thigh-high. I looked towards the sky and prayed to Almighty that it stopped raining and we reach home safely. Now, bhavans campus is quite big and to cross it in darkess and 3 feet of water was a herculean task. Only lightening used to bighten up the surroundings and we could see our way. It felt like humanity in dark ages...and we were on a "migrate to survive" trip....all at Almighty's mercy. So much flooding only in few hours of rain was unheard of.
Midway though Bhavans campus we found people volunteering to guide the passers by, since the flow of water coming into the campus could easily take anyone into its rift. At the gate of Wadia school there was absolute chaos. People had to pass from a narrow lane to come into or leave the campus. The flow of water from the gutter adjoining the road was so much that it was difficult to cross, even the few meters, without a rigid support. It was a stampede of sorts as the people coming in and the people going out clinged on to each other to pass by. The localites had tied a rope for the people to cling onto while crossing. Melvin lost and recovered his bag twice and slipped twice in the melee.
On the road to 4 bungalows, vehicles were stranded and abandoned, the water level was waist-high. My jeans was sticking to my skin and the heavy water that we had to walk though was killing me. My jeans weighed one ton!! People were still inside BEST buses on the road hoping for the roads to clear and traffic move ahead, albeit in vain. Hordes of people were still trying to go towards Andheri station, not knowing what dangers lie ahead. The water level gradually decreased towards 4 bungalows bcoz of water escaping to the barren land belonging to AAI. We reached outside Melvin's place, all tired and exhausted. The vehicles coming from Lokhandwala complex informed us that the situation at Link road was bad, so I decided to stay at Melvin's place for the night.
This day was the worst day, without doubt, in Bombay's history. Several hundred crores of losses were suffered. Hundred plus people lost their lives in the maddening rains. The mental trauma is unfathomable though.
