Indian Express 14.09.2010
Dry spell brings promise of road repair in 2-3 days
With the city under a dry spell for the moment, the civic administration has assured all potholed roads will be repaired in the next couple of days, ahead of the Ganesh idol immersion.
Guardian Minister for the suburbs Naseem Khan, who travelled along major festival routes Sunday, said, “I saw for myself the potholes on major routes for immersion. I spoke to the civic officials who have assured us they will be able to fill the potholes during the next two days as there is a dry spell now.”
“Now that there has been a dry spell for the past couple of days, the department has undertaken repair on a warfooting,” said Aseem Gupta, additional municipal commissioner.
BMC standing committee chairman Rahul Shewale said they have promised the Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Samanvaya Samiti potholes would be repaired in two-three days. The Samiti has now decided not to move court against the BMC.
Warmer and drier but season not yet over
The withdrawal of monsoon currents has not begun yet but the rain would start decreasing over the next few days and temperatures are bound to rise, the India Meteorological Department said.
The skies having cleared considerably over the weekend, the maximum temperature touched 32°C Monday, a degree above the season’s normal, in both the city and the suburbs. The minimum hovered around 26°C in both regions, while humidity was high, 92 and 89 per cent in Santacruz and Colaba.
The rain since Sunday has been negligible in Mumbai but a low-pressure system near the Gujarat coast brought showers in Gujarat and many places over South Konkan-Goa coast.
“In Maharashtra, monsoon withdrawal begins around the last week of September. However, the (seasonal) activities will slow down gradually now. With the cloud cover decreasing, the intensity of the sun’s radiation is bound to increase, raising the maximum temperature,” IMD director V K Rajeev said.
Met department officials said nationwide, the withdrawal of the monsoon will begin from the North over the next few days. The normal withdrawal date from Maharashtra is September 30.
Four lakes full, other two almost
The monsoon has two or three weeks but four of the city’s six water sources are already overflowing and the other two are each less than a metre short.
Upper Vaitarna lake, whose full level is 603.51 metres, has reached 603.30 m while Bhatsa (full level 142.07 m) has reached 141.25 m. “We expect both will overflow within this week,” said Vinay Deshpande, chief hydraulic engineer.
Of the other lakes, Modak Sagar and Tulsi started overflowing on July 27, followed by Tansa on August 6 and Vihar on August 19.
“Excess water from Upper Vaitarna automatically starts to flow towards Modaksagar, so the former will not overflow,” said a water department official. “From Bhatsa, water is being continuously being drawn for supply to Thane and Mumbai, so it will not overflow either.”
The total useful water content in the six lakes is 38 per cent higher than this time last year, 12,88,623 million litres compared to 9,27,170. “It is a very good sign but we will be comfortable up to the next monsoon in June only if the lakes are overflowing on September 30,” said an official.
