Water Water Everywhere, Not a Single Drop to Spare

From Tuesday night, ever since the rains lashed out on the city, Mumbai - the city that never sleeps- has been thrown into a state of chaos and pandemonium. North Mumbai suburbs have been submerged in water bringing all activity to a standstill. School children, the working class, elders, preganant women trudged through waist deep water, throughout the night, drenched in the rains that with unrelenting force beat down on the city.
In places like Kalina, Santacruz, Vikroli, people waded through neck deep water, water infested with cockroaches, human faeces, dead cattle. Thousands of lives were wiped away. Mumbaikars have lost all they owned and the slum dwellers have been hit hardest. Colleges and schools, educators, principals came forward at this time and offered all possible help. Several good samaritans offered their homes as shelters for the night as thousands, yet, stood stranded in the middle of the city as all public transport came to a halt. The reporters of several News Channels, NDTV, Aaj Tak must be commended for their bravery and commitment toward the masses at this critical time and for keeping every Mumbaikar abreast of the situation and the magnitude of the disaster. Still, there are several questions that remain unanswered. The predictions of the meteoroligical department leaves much to be desired.
The responsibility of the Bombay Muncipal Corporation towards checking on the encroachment of forest, marsh areas for concretization.Unscrupulous building activity, bribery, cheap constructions... it has been going on for years unchecked. The city drainage system is a 100 years old! This is the wake up call that Mumbai was waiting for. At what cost? And isthere a solid reconstruction plan in order? Who do we hold responsible at this time? It is the first time in a 100 years that Mumbai has witnessed a natural calamity like this due to the monsoons.