Mumbai rains expose ‘administrative failure’: Congress leader Wadettiwar

Congress on Monday launched a scathing attack on the Maharashtra government over the recent spate of rain-related deaths in Mumbai, alleging that administrative negligence and poor preparedness had turned the monsoon into a recurring tragedy.

Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Maharashtra Assembly, Vijay Wadettiwar, said the deaths exposed the failure of both the state government and the civic administration to protect citizens, particularly those living in unsafe and dilapidated structures.

Referring to Sunday's chawl collapse in Mankhurd that claimed six lives, Wadettiwar said the incident was not a natural disaster but the consequence of official inaction.

"The government must clarify whether the building had already been declared unsafe. If it was, why were the residents not shifted to a safer location before the tragedy struck?" he asked in a statement.

Highlighting the toll of the ongoing monsoon, the Congress leader said 10 people had lost their lives in Mumbai over the past six days in rain-related incidents, including a chawl collapse, tree falls and open manholes.

"People should not have to pay with their lives because of administrative lapses," Wadettiwar said, accusing the authorities of failing to take preventive measures despite repeated warnings during every monsoon season.

He demanded strict action against those responsible, saying the government's response should go beyond ordering inquiries and announcing compensation.

Calling for immediate preventive measures, Wadettiwar urged the authorities to conduct comprehensive safety audits of dilapidated buildings, identify vulnerable structures and ensure timely evacuation of residents to avert further loss of life during the monsoon.

Mumbai has witnessed a series of fatal rain-related incidents in recent days. Besides the six deaths in the Mankhurd chawl collapse, two people were killed in separate tree-fall incidents over the last two days. Earlier, on 30 June, an 11-year-old boy died after a tree was uprooted and crashed onto a moving school bus, underscoring the mounting human cost of the season's relentless rains.

With PTI inputs