All you want to know about the Bombay flood, 2005

1. BOMBAY FLOOD 2005

2. BOMBAY FLOOD JULY 26, 2005
The 2005 Bombay floods refers to the flooding of many
parts of the Indian state of Maharashtra including large
areas of the metropolis Mumbai a city located on the
coast of the Arabian Sea, on the Western coast of India,
in which approximately 1,094 people died. It occurred
just one month after the June 2005 Gujarat floods. The
term 26 July, is now always used to refer to the day
when the city of Mumbai came to a standstill due to
flooding.

4. • The floods were caused by the eighth heaviest ever
recorded 24- hour rainfall figure of 944 mm (37.2
inches).
• The root cause of Mumbai’s susceptibility to flooding is
its geography, both natural and manmade.
• The city’s location leaves it exposed to heavy rainfall
during the monsoon. 50% of the rainfall during the two
wettest months, July and August, falls in just two or
three events.
• This situation is aggravated by the manmade geography.

5. • Uncontrolled, unplanned development of buildings
affected the flow of water.
• The ecosystems serving as a buffer between land and sea
were replaced with construction.
• Excessive use of plastic, plastic which was thrown in
river was affecting the flow of water & stuck the water
flow.

7. Threat to public health
• Rain water caused the sewage system to overflow and all
water lines were contaminated.
• Animal carcasses and sewage floated in the flood waters,
raising concerns about the possibility of disease.
• Water-borne diseases, caused by either drinking or
coming into direct contact with contaminated water.
• Water-borne disease:
• Cholera - the WHO estimates roughly 25,000 cases a
year, with a fatality rate of 1%.
• Leptospirosis - caused by exposure to water
contaminated with animal urine.
• Vector-borne disease:
• Malaria - is caused by parasites transmitted by the
Anopheles mosquito.

8. Financial effect
• Flood caused a stoppage of entire commercial, trading,
and industrial activity for days.
• There was a direct loss of about Rs. 550 crores.
• Banking and ATM transactions were adversely affected.
• The Bombay Stock Exchange and the National Stock
Exchange of India, the premier stock exchanges of India
could function only partially.

9. Effect on Mumbai's links to the rest of the world
• Mumbai's domestic and international airports (including
Chatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Sahar and Juhu
aerodrome) were shut for more than 30 hours due to
heavy flooding of the runways, submerged Instrument
Landing System equipment and extremely poor
visibility.
• Rail links were disrupted, cancellation of several long
distance trains till 6 August 2005.
• The Mumbai-Pune Expressway was closed the first time
ever in its history, for 24 hours.

10. • 5 million mobile and 2.3 million MTNL landline users
were hit for over four hours.
• Transport stats
• 52 local trains damaged
• 37,000 auto rickshaws spoiled
• 4,000 taxis damaged
• 900 BEST buses damaged
• 10,000 trucks and tempos grounded

11. Other major losses due to the event
• Commercial establishments damaged: 40,000
• Vehicles Damaged: 30,000
• Electricity supply was stopped in most parts of Mumbai’s
Western Suburbs in the night of the 26th July 2005
• 174,885 houses were partially damaged, 2,000 fully
damaged.

13. A number of works were proposed and undertaken to
reduce the city flood risks. The works have been going on
over the years and are in various stages of completion
• To study the storm water drainage (SWD)
• system and to prepare a scheme for quicker disposal of
runoff thereby reducing flood duration, consultants were
appointed. The consultants divided the SWD networks in
121 catchments, studied the deficiencies, identified
difficulties in cleaning and maintenance, reviewed design
criteria and prepared a Master Plan for augmentation of
S.W.D. System.
• The consultants submitted final report in the year 1993,
known as
• BRIMSTOWAD Report.

14. • A fact-finding committee (CHITALE committee) was
established by Government of Maharashtrapost 2005
floods to investigate the causes of the disaster and make
recommendations to reduce future risks.
• Several recommendations were made, with much
emphasis on measures to improve the city’s
drainagesystems, including desiltation, widening,
deepening and evacuation of encroachers.
• Some engineeringoptions were also suggested in the
report which included creation of an urban hydrology
authority andinstallation of automatic rain gauges for
early warning and a Doppler radar system for the coast
of Mumbaias a part of an advanced early warning
system.

15. • Reducing indirect losses from flooding: The ARIO
model allows us to assess the benefits of sets ofpolicies
that aim to enhance disaster recovery; reducing the lost
production due to property damages andtherefore the
indirect costs of flooding. Two instruments are explored
here: firstly, increasing flexibility inthe capacity of the
construction sector, to speed reconstruction; and
secondly, the provision of insurance.
• Adaptive capacity of the construction sector:
Increasing the flexibility of capacity of the
• construction sector means that damaged buildings and
infrastructure can be repaired or replaced morequickly
following a disaster, reducing lost production.

16. Ann A9004
Annu A9006
Zeba A9012
Nabeela A9021
Rohith A9027
Varsha A9037
Semester 9 - Disaster mitigation and Management