Heavy Rain Leaves Mumbai Stranded, Hospitals Flooded

Heavy downpour in Mumbai made life difficult for Mumbaikars on Tuesday. Around 50 female patients who were admitted to the KEM hospital in Parel were shifted to higher floors as the ground floor in the hospital was flooded with heavy rain on Tuesday. Many patients were evacuated from ward number 4 which comes under the medicine department. Many patients are suffering from mosquito borne diseases like dengue and viral fever. Dean of KEM Hospital Dr. Avinash Supe said the last time the hospital was flooded to such an extent was during the 2005 deluge.

"We have two pumps but they could not take the load as the pressure of the water was high," said Dr. Supe adding that the water had begun receding in the evening. "We did not cancel any surgeries or other procedures," he said.

Many civic run hospitals too were flooded but the water didn't enter the buildings. "There was no electricity but the generator back up was immediately activated. None of the Intensive Care Units or other medical equipment running on electricity was affected" said acting dean Jayashree Mondkar adding that the electricity was restored within two hours. Sources have informed that the Mumbai Central's Nair Hospital was flooded and many staff members who reported in the morning had to do double shift as the other staff members couldn't reach office.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast "heavy to very heavy rains" in the entire coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, here on Wednesday. "Heavy to very heavy rainfall likely to occur... with extremely heavy at isolated places in districts of North Konkan, from today morning," an IMD bulletin said. Similar wet conditions were likely to prevail in the Konkan districts of Palghar, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg till Saturday.

In the 24-hour cycle since Tuesday 8.30 a.m. till Wednesday, the suburbs recorded 332 mm while the city notched 111 mm rains, the IMD said.

With inputs from IANS

 

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