Mumbai streets brace for another year of monsoon mayhem

Pre-monsoon showers over two days have inundated roads in several parts of the city – an ominous sign ahead of the actual monsoon rains.
Mumbai: The monsoons have not even arrived with full force here and yet, Mumbai streets have once again disappeared under rainwater – leaving locals to once again fend for themselves due to civic apathy.
Flooded streets is a yearly feature in Mumbai and is almost as certain as claims of civic authorities of having carried out exhaustive desilting across the city. The claims fall flat without fail and it was for all to see on Monday when pre-monsoon showers struck Maximum City for the second consecutive day. Roads went under and traffic went haywire in what – unfortunately – have become all-too-familiar scenes for locals. Water-logging was reported from several parts of the city. The video below is from Peddar Road – a busy arterial road in south Mumbai.
Water-logging was reported from the suburbs as well with massive traffic snarls soon becoming a common sight.
Rains each year threaten to throw life out of gear in Mumbai – a city known for its resilient spirit. Locals however have repeatedly voiced their distress at the state of roads and civic amenities during monsoons – being promised a solution each time but hardly ever getting any. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has been in the center of the proverbial storm with allegations of desilting scams bringing it a horrid name. And with the state that Mumbai roads were in on Monday – with monsoon still a day or two away, it is clear that the city will once again have to step up – quite literally.