Mumbai: To make it easier for people to respond to emergencies during the monsoon, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has put its exhaustive ward directory online. The directory contains phone numbers of all ward officials, a list of water-logging spots, pump operators and their phone numbers, details of vulnerable settlements, emergency assembly points, food packet suppliers among other information.
The directory is available on the BMC website. Alternatively, citizens can call the BMC disaster control room for assistance. Every year, the civic body’s disaster management department publishes the Flood Preparation Guidelines, which maps the vulnerability of an area. It also publishes a ward directory annually, with ward boundaries, officials and their phone numbers and the concerned assistant municipal commissioner. It also lists flooding spots in each area with the number of pumps installed there.
Mahesh Narvekar, Chief Officer, Disaster Management Department, BMC, said, “This is an exhaustive exercise that we undertake every year. The contacts are updated regularly. The idea is to put all relevant information in the public domain, so that people can get the right help in times of emergency.” He added the directory also lists landslide prone locations, and numbers of the fire department, police stations and hospitals.
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For food supply during emergency situations, the directory lists the numbers of those willing to undertake the endeavour, mostly restaurants. During the 2017 floods, many restaurants and NGOs had distributed food to the stranded.
It also lists organisations with volunteers to deal with emergencies, and those providing labourers for removing dangerous trees, desilting drains among other services. A civic official said, “People can always call the disaster control room on 1916, or access this directory online to directly contact the concerned official according to their needs.”
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The city received its first pre-monsoon shower on Saturday, with rainfall recorded at close to 25 mm till Saturday night. Thane and Kalyan saw heavy rainfall that day, in which three people died in two separate incidents of electrocution in Bhandup. There were other incidents of trees falling and landslides in the suburbs. Sunday, however, provided little relief to citizens as rain stayed away and high humidity returned.The India Meteorological Department has predicted light rain or thundershowers on Monday, with maximum and minimum temperatures at 35°C and 26°C respectively.