Mumbai: Every monsoon, chaos reigns, largely due to the unpreparedness of the authorities. With every spell of heavy rain, the city seems to pass out. But when disaster strikes, not just the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the Mumbai Police too can be counted on, to rush to the rescue of citizens, animals or divert traffic from waterlogged areas.
Each agency has disaster management plans and likewise, this year too, Mumbai Police drew up a plan to deal with extreme weather outcomes. "No single agency can maintain the city in extreme weather conditions. It is a joint effort involving various agencies, mainly, the BMC, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and the fire brigade along with police, to ensure the city runs smoothly and importantly, to help citizens," said Mumbai Police spokesperson DCP Manjunath Singhe.
In its pre-monsoon plan, police had identified 225 flooding spots in the city. Of these 225 locations, 135 locations are monitored by CCTV cameras. During rain, the police control room monitors these 135 spots 24x7. "Whenever it rains heavily or there is an alert from the meteorological department, the local police stations have been ordered to remain present in these locations in advance. They are asked to remain there till the situation is normalised," said an officer.
Mumbai Police have a network of almost 5, 000 CCTV cameras to keep an eye on the city. These cameras are monitored by Mumbai Police and the disaster management cell. "This network is a valuable resource in situations like floods and accidents," said an officer.
Meanwhile, as part of monsoon preparedness, all police stations have been asked to equip their staff with ropes and life jackets. These are important for those going to low-lying areas for rescue work, as these spots are at greater risk of floods. Traffic police also station towing vans in these sensitive spots to rescue stranded people and vehicles. Police have also identified 11 possible landslide-prone areas and have asked the BMC to put up safety nets in these places, prior to the monsoon.
Police are in constant contact with the IMD and identified that 29 days during the monsoon when they expect heavy rains and high tides on the same days. Local police have been asked to remain alert. They are also closely in contact with the social media team of Mumbai police, which sends them alerts of any situation.
"We are very active on the Twitter and address the complaints we receive from our social media team. We also get constant alerts from our 100 number. All the complaints are addressed almost immediately," said Singhe.
