Residents of Mumbai hit the panic mode today as the Mithi river, flowing through its suburbs, breached its danger mark, thus reviving memories of the July 2005 floods that claimed over 150 lives.

Siddhesh Inamdar
MUMBAI: The Mithi river, whose flooding had brought Mumbai to a standstill during the deluge in 2005, threatened to go out of control on Tuesday, following heavy rains since the previous evening.

In Kurla, a low-lying area, 140 hutment dwellers from Kranti Nagar were evacuated by fire service officials as the river crossed the danger level of 2.8 metres.

MUMBAI: The Mithi could pose a serious threat to life and property in case of heavy rain.

Although the former chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh had approved the widening of the Mithi at CST bridge near Kurla up to 100 m in the aftermath of the July 26, 2005 deluge, a directive by the state's empowerment committee led by chief secretary Johny Joseph, reduced the width to just 60 m.

Heavy rains in the early hours of Wednesday brought back memories of July 26, 2005, to the residents of Mumbai when the Mithi river flowing along the suburbs of Mumbai breached its banks and flooded the Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the low-lying housing colonies in its vicinity.

MUMBAI: With a rare hope of restoring the marine ecosystem in the `poisonous' Mithi, the city's metropolitan administration now wants the river-turned-nullah's unbearable stink in the BKC area to go.

But this exercise, likely to be implemented after the monsoon, is reportedly aimed at increasing the value of BKC land abutting the river in the real estate market--purely for financial gains.

IIT Bombay's suggestion to divert the course of Mithi river alongside the internal boundary of the airport - which is the most viable option to prevent flooding of the river has already mired in controversy with both the Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) locking horns over the responsibility of carrying out the work and bearing its expense

Mumbai: The three-hour trail usually starts at the break of dawn with breakfast. On the agenda to visit is a recycling unit, reclaimed land, a diminishing mangrove jungle and a creek-- not what you would usually expect on a tour of a river. "But then, the Mithi isn't a river anymore.

Mumbai: Four years after the 2005 deluge, which killed over 400 people, Mumbai continues to be at the risk of floods with a high possibility of disaster in future. In fact, it is the third city after Rio De Jeneiro and Shanghai that is most prone to disaster.

Mumbai: Construction of a retaining wall along the Vakola nallah by Mumbai Metropolitan Regional Development Authority (MMRDA) has enraged activists.

Activists opine that the wall will destroy the mangroves next to the nallah, which is in direct violation of the Bombay High Court order of 2005, ensuring protection of mangroves in Maharashtra.

Water conservationist and Magsaysay Award Winner, Rajendra Singh, who was in Mumbai last week to talk about the Mithi, lists some of the steps that can be taken to revive the river

The sources of the Mithi River