Mumbai, July 24: The maximum city is bracing itself on Friday against one of the highest tides in the past 100 years. Mumbai will be hit by a high tide of 5.05 metres after 2.03 pm onwards and will last till late evening.
High tides above 4.15 metres are considered dangerous. The already burdened civic authorities are gearing for any eventuality, even though they insist that there is no need to panic.
However, over a hundred shanties were swept away at Varsova in North West Mumbai due to high tide on Thursday when the tide rose to as high as 5.01 metres.
Municipal commissioner Jairaj Pathak has allayed fears of any repeat of 26/7 deluge of 2005, when large parts of the city went almost five feet under waters. The Disaster Management Cell of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation is also on standby.
The city had received rainfall of over 900 mm that day with 24 hours (a world record) and coupled with high tide, most parts of central Mumbai were inundated. The deluge had cut of the city from rest of the country as train and air services came to a standstill for a few hours.
However, the meteorological department has said that there was very little possibility of very heavy rains during the high tide period on today.
As a precautionary measure, residents of Varsova, Colaba in south Mumbai and others who stay close to the sea shores have been asked to be on alert.
The fire brigade, Coast Guard and Navy are also on alert and are advising people to be just alert and not panic.
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.
–Agencies