Mumbai sees tallest waves in 100 years

YASIN

ON A HIGH GEAR: A high tide near the Gateway of India in Mumbai on Friday afternoon.

Indo-Asian News Service

Mumbai, July 24: Sea waves rode the tarmac near the Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Juhu and Worli among other places on Friday as India`s financial capital was lashed by tidal waves 5.5 metres high, billed as the highest in 100 years.

There were no reports of casualties during the high tide brought about by a combination of the monsoon and the strong gravitational pull of the moon two days after the new moon.

City authorities had issued advance warnings to people. Nearly 200 families had been evacuated from the coastal areas.

Huge waves crashed onto the retaining walls at Nariman Point, Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Marine Drive, Haji Ali, Worli Seaface, Bandra Bandstand, Juhu, Versova, Marve, Gorai, Bhandup and Vikhroli.

Water roared over roads near Prabhadevi, Worli, Juhu and Bandra part from the one near the Gateway of India just outside the Taj Mahal Palace & Tower Hotel.

Coastal areas near Mumbai, such as Thane, Bhayander, Uttan, Palghar, Boisar and Dahanu also experienced the unusual high tides.

The high tide started at 2.05 pm and the waters are to ebb at 8.09 pm when it will reach the lowest level of 0.77 metre, the weather bureau said.

Thousands of office-goers took time off to view the majestic natural phenomenon at various points across the city, though from a safe distance and under the watchful eyes of the authorities.

People living in high-rise buildings facing the Arabian Sea crowded the balconies in neighbourhoods like Borivli, Kandivli, Malad, Goregaon, Andheri, Bandra, Mahim and south Mumbai.

Saturday will be another day of high tide when waves measuring 4.94 metres are expected to hit the city at 2.43 pm, the weatherman added.

This has been a week of high tides. In the past two days, waves measuring 4.85 and 5.1 metres lashed Mumbai and the Konkan region.

Last week, the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) had used newspaper advertisements to warn people of the potential damage that could be caused by the high tides and had given contact details for emergency services.

As many as 11 hotlines have been established and 34 rain gauges have been installed from where round-the-clock information is being collected. Control rooms have been set up at all the 24 civic wards. Officials said that MCGM would also monitor the situation in flood-prone areas through CCTVs

Mumbai braces for highest tide in 100 years

Indo Asian News Service

Mumbai, July 24: Nearly 200 people have been evacuated from coastal areas, warnings have been sent out to those in low-lying regions and schools have advised students to stay at home as India`s financial capital braces for a massive 5.5 metre high tidal wave, billed as the highest in 100 years, to lash it on Friday afternoon.

The high tide is expected to hit Mumbai and the surrounding Konkan region at 2.05 pm. The waters will ebb only after three to four hours, met officials said.

In the past two days, as waves measuring 4.85 and 5.1 metres lashed Mumbai, civic and disaster management authorities evacuated people - mostly shanty dwellers - from vulnerable areas like Colaba, Cuffe Parade, Andheri, Jogeshwari and even parts of neighbouring Thane.

The Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has issued warnings to people in low-lying areas to watch out for the gigantic tide on Friday and take adequate precautions.

On Thursday, sea water rushed into several buildings in Cuffe Parade, Worli, Dadar, Prabhadevi, Andheri, Juhu, Khar and Malad.

Even mayor Shubha Raul`s official bungalow at Shivaji Park in Dadar was not spared. The huge waves knocked down a compound wall.

In Thane, the district adjacent to Mumbai, waterlogging attributed to the high tide was reported from residential areas in places like Uttan, Palghar, Boisar and Dahanu but there have been no casualties so far.

Some schools have advised students to stay at home in view of the high tide, but there has been no official announcement of closure by the government.

However, for many Mumbaikars, the tides offered a rare view of a natural phenomenon after clouds obscured the solar eclipse on Wednesday.

Thousands of people excitedly saw the tides from a safe distance at places like Colaba, Marine Drive, Girgaum Chowpatty, Worli Sea-Face, Bandra Bandstand, Juhu Beach, Gorai Beach and Marve Beach yesterday. Today, greater numbers are expected.

Crowds had assembled even at the Thane Creek and commuters were seen craning their necks to see the swirling waters as the trains crossed the railway bridges at Bhayander Creek.

Last week, the MCGM had inserted big and small advertisements in newspapers, warning people of the potential damage that could be wreaked by the high tides and contact details for emergency services.

As many as 11 hotlines have been established and 34 rain gauges have been installed from where round-the-clock information is being collected. Control rooms have been set up at all the 24 civic wards.

Officials said that MCGM would also monitor the situation in flood-prone areas through CCTVs.

26/11 panel severely indicts Maharashtra govt

MUMBAI: The high-level committee appointed to inquire into the 26/11 terror attack on Mumbai has severely indicted the Maharashtra government andpossibly that is the reason why the latter is refusing to make the report public. Nine Pakistani terrorists arrived by boat to Mumbai and executed a massacre at several places.

TOI has accessed the report, prepared by retired bureaucrat Ram Pradhan and former RAW official V Balachandran, and is making the relevant portions public in the larger interest of the security of Mumbai and its people.

On page 74, the panel has observed: "Despite receiving as many as six alerts about the sea route likely to be used by terrorists, no significant steps had been taken by the state government to beef up coastal security by having regular interaction with the Coast Guard. It was well-known that the patchwork joint patrolling started from 1993 had not worked. Nothing other than convening meetings seem to have been achieved as evident from the information given by DGP."

"The DGP (A N Roy was in the post at that time) told the committee that the coastal security plan introduced by the government of India since 1993 was not working well because several agencies had to contribute to its success." Local cops have to cover a distance of 12 nautical miles from the coast, the Coast Guard 12 to 200 nautical miles and the rest is covered by the Navy. But all the agencies "dropped out". "The Navy agreed to provide eight ships for coastal patrolling (but) withdrew in 2006 by establishing a quick response team (QRT) in Murud and Ratnagiri. This was not adequate," the panel noted.

The report states: "In the wake the 2006 serial train blasts, the Maharashtra government in the home department formed a ‘study group’ comprising retired senior police and military officials on October 31, 2006, ‘for suggesting the security of Mumbai and other major cities in the state’. It was expected to submit its report in three months. But the first meeting was called only on January 27, 2007 by the then commissioner of police who was the convenor. The group has not yet submitted its report."

‘‘The committee found total confusion in the processing of intelligence alerts at the level of the state government and the police. Both the additional chief secretary (home) and principal secretary (home) gave in writing to the committee that they had not received any intelligence alerts from the (Union) ministry of home affairs (MHA)."

2003 Mumbai twin blasts verdict today

A special court will pronounce its verdict in the 2003 Mumbai twin blasts case today. The blasts had killed 52 people and injured 100 others.

The trial has been on for six years now and will be the biggest judgment in a terror-related case in Mumbai after the conviction of 100 accused in the 1993 serial blasts case by a TADA court in 2007.

On August 25, 2003, two blasts rocked the Gateway of India and the busy Zaveri Bazaar in south Mumbai.

Mumbai's brush with high tide

Safe and sound: A huge wave hits the safety wall of the buildings along the sea shore during high tide in Mumbai on July 24, 2009. The peak of the rare high tide in Mumbai passed off uneventfully witnessing tides over 5 metres, the highest of this monsoon season. (AP)

High Alert: 5.05 m high tide likely to hit Mumbai

TIDE ALERT: Mumbai has been on tenterhooks with a high tide alert this week.

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Mumbai: Mumbai has been on tenterhooks with a high tide alert this week. Civic officials have warned of high tides up to 5 metres and above. This, if accompanied by heavy rains, could throw the city out of gear.

But with intermittent showers and strong winds on Wednesday and Thursday, the city seems to have braved the high tides for now.

Areas such Worli, Koliwada, Versova and Geeta Nagar and Cuffe parade near the coast were inundated during high tide as sea water entered many homes.

A wall collapse at the Mayor's bungalow sent authorities into a tizzy and over 50 pumping machines were on standby to tackle flooding in low-lying areas.

BMC officials however insist there's no reason to panic and that they were all geared up for any emergency arising out of the situation.

BMC Commissioner, Jairaj Phatak said, “We will evacuate people living in low-lying areas if high tide indeed sets in.”

Mumbaikars are not taking any chances though and those who have seen the July 2005 deluge are opting to stay indoors.

With July 24 expected to see high tide of 5.05 meters, the highest for this monsoon, authorities have advised citizens to take necessary precautions.

HIGHEST TIDE OR NOT?

A debate on whether the maximum city will witness the highest tide in 100 years has been going on for some time. The Survey of India (SOI) says no and has come down heavily on the BMC for creating panic by declaring the 5.05 meter tide as the "highest of the century".

The survey's research cell shot off a letter to the civic agency, calling the information 'factually incorrect'.

SOI figures show that Mumbai witnessed its highest tide in January this year, when water levels touched the 5.13 metre mark, that's .8 metres higher than what's been predicted for Friday.

The SOI is a research body under the central department of science and technology, and boasts of a flawless record of accurate tidal predictions for the past 120 years.

(With inputs from Kajal Iyer and Sholeen Damarwala in Mumbai)

Mumbai braces for the highest tide in 100 years

Mumbai is bracing itself against what could turn out to be a tide higher than what it faced four years ago during the great deluge. Shortly after 2 pm on Friday, Mumbai is expecting one of the highest tides in the past 100 years. It could exceed five metres. High tides above 4.15 metres are considered dangerous. The local civic body has instructed the fire brigade, coast guard and Navy to be on alert and has placed full page advertisements in newspapers, asking people to be cautious. Citizens have been urged not to move out during heavy rains unless extremely necessary. They have also been asked to monitor media for weather updates before leaving home. People living in the low-lying areas have specifically been asked to be on alert. Apart from these, people have been asked to always carry a few eatables and safe drinking water while stepping out of the house. On that cautionary note, a few schools have asked students to stay at home on the high tide dates.

Poll Is Mumbai prepared for the high tide? Yes No Can't say

What experts say

According to experts, the high tide level for July 24, 2009, is probably the highest in a decade, and if rains persist that day, flooding is likely in low-lying areas like Juhu, Kurla, Kalina, Hindmata and Dadar. With high tide levels at a maximum of 5.05 m inland, even water from a moderate rainfall would have difficulty in draining out, they say. In June 2008, the highest high tide of the season - at 4.86 metres - saw areas of Juhu inundated for nearly half an hour though rain was sporadic

Mumbai high tide: What, when, how

Mumbai braces for tide and torrent The Met Department has predicted that a rare high tide may hit Mumbai on Friday. A few months ago, the Maharashtra Maritime Board had made a similar forecast. At 2.03 pm on July 24, the tides are expected to rise to 5.05 metres - about 57 cm higher that the high tide on July 26, 2005 - according to the Maritime Board's predictions. The tide recorded during the 26/7 floods, caused by a record rainfall of 944 mm within 24 hours, was only 4.48-metre high

I'm not bothered if I hang, says Mumbai gunman

Ajmal Kasab, the only surviving suspect from terror attacks, tells court that he wants no mercy and is ready to die

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Ajmal Kasab filmed on CCTV walking through Mumbai's main railway station. Photograph: Sebastian D'souza/AP

The lone surviving gunman in the Mumbai attacks said today that he was ready to go to the gallows and wanted no mercy from the court for his role in one of India's worst terrorist acts, which left 166 people dead.

"Whatever I have done, I have done in this world. It would be better to be punished in this world. It would be better than God's punishment. That's why I have pleaded guilty," Ajmal Kasab, a Pakistani, told the court.

Kasab unexpectedly confessed on Monday to taking part in the three-day attack last November, leaving a trail of carnage across downtown Mumbai, India's financial and entertainment capital.

"If I am hanged for this, I am not bothered. I don't want any mercy from the court. I understand the implications of my accepting the crime," he said.

The chief prosecutor, Ujjwal Nikam, had accused Kasab of trying to minimise his role in the attack to avoid the death penalty and protect his alleged co-conspirators in Pakistan. Nikam told the court that parts of Kasab's confession were inconsistent with the evidence.

The judge, ML Tahiliyani, has yet to accept the confession, which has complicated the already onerous task of defending a man whose photograph showing him striding through Mumbai's main train station with a gun has become an emblem of the terrifying three days.

The confession, which describes in detail his links with a shadowy but well-organised group in Pakistan, also bolsters Indian accusations that Islamabad is not doing enough to clamp down on terrorist groups.

Kasab said he was not tortured or coerced into making the confession. "If somebody thinks that I have confessed the crime to escape the death penalty, he should take it out of his mind," he said.

In his confession, Kasab spoke of the killings by some of the other gunmen who came with him from Pakistan on a boat, and the role their handlers played in inciting them to carry out the attack with provocative videos.

After landing in Mumbai, the 10 gunmen split up into pairs and fanned out to carry out the killings at a railway station, a hospital, a Jewish centre and two five-star hotels.

Kasab's confession goes into detail about the shootings by his partner, Abu Ismail, at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus railway station, where more than 50 people were killed, and at the Cama hospital.

The pair later hijacked a Skoda car, which was stopped by police. In the resulting shoot-out, Kasab was injured and captured while Ismail was killed. The other eight gunmen were killed during the course of the siege.

Nikam urged the court not to rush to issue a judgment based only on Kasab's confession, saying that only the parts of it that were consistent with the prosecution's evidence should be accepted.

"The rest of the things that he has said are so many total lies," Nikam told reporters later.

Nikam said the court should also allow the prosecution to finish presenting its case so it could expose inconsistencies in Kasab's confession.

The Mumbai siege severely strained relations between India and Pakistan and slowed a peace process between the nuclear-armed rivals.

Pakistan is trying five alleged members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, the group India says masterminded the attack. The five have denied allegations that they played a role in the Mumbai attack.

In his confession, Kasab said one of those men – Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi – saw him and the other attackers off on their suicide mission.

Kasab initially pleaded not guilty to 86 charges including murder and waging war against India, which is punishable by death. He said he made his abrupt about-face because the Pakistani government acknowledged he was Pakistani and began legal proceedings against the alleged masterminds of the Mumbai attack.

Two Indians, Fahim Ansari and Ahmed Sabauddin, also are on trial for allegedly providing maps that helped in the attack.

BMC gets own bomb squad

By: Somita Pal

Date: 2009-07-21

Place:Mumbai

With its headquarters and hospitals on terrorists' radar since 26/11, the civic body decides to reduce dependence on the police

Eight months after the terror attack on Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is planning to have its own bomb disposal squad.

It has sent already 30 security officials to Pune for training in bomb detection and disposal.

Strict Vigil: Police bandobast outside the BMC headquarters after the 26/11 terror attacks. BMC's main office at CST and its hospitals are on terrorists' target lists.

Additional Municipal Commissioner Madhav Sangale said, "After 26/11, the BMC headquarters and civic hospitals were on the terrorists' target list.

Thousands of people visit our headquarters and hospitals every day.

We thought that by creating our own bomb disposal squad, we would not have to depend on the police."

The Indian Army began the training on Saturday. "As part of our first batch, we have sent six security officers and 24 security guards.

They will be trained in Khadakvasla for 13 days," said S Kulkarni, joint security officer.

However, he refused to give any details about where the squad will be posted.

"It is too early to say that. We are waiting for the first batch to return. We are yet to decide on their equipment and uniforms," he said.

Safety First

After 26/11, BMC tightened security at its headquarters, civic hospitals and water pumping stations.

BMC has 3,800 security guards and 100 security officers. Last month, it recruited 600 security guards. BMC's security guards are armed with either a rifle or a revolver.

Rs 7 crore
The amount BMC has allocated for security for 2009-2010