National Conference GEO Informatics 51

Disaster Management Plan of Mumbai

Mr. V. V. Vaidya
Chief Officer, Disaster Management CCRS, Mumbai.

Greater Mumbai Metropolitan area or locations include hilltops, slopes, nallahs, low-lying
BrihinMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area, areas (with tendency to flood during high tides),
is divided in two revenue districts viz Mumbai city coastal locations, under high-tension wires, along
District and Mumbai suburban District. Greater highways, along railway lines, within industrial
Mumbai of Maharashtra is entirely urban. It extends zones, pavements, along water mains, along open
between 18o and 19.20o northern latitude and between drainage etc.
72o and 73.00o eastern longitude. It has an east to
As per the observation of above situations
west extend of about 12 km. where it is broadest,
Mumbai Municipal Corporation prepared Disaster
and a north - south extend of about 40 k m.
Management Plan with help of Govt. of Maharashtra
Its height is hardly 10 to 15 meters above sea and divided this plan into three phases.
level. At some places the height is just above the sea
Following information is given into first phase.
level. Part of Mumbai City district is a reclaimed
land on Arabian sea coast. Mumbai City is one of The sites vulnerable to different natural
the first four metropolitan areas in India. It has global calamities are as follows:
importance since Mumbai is an international sea port
and the international Sahar airport. Vulnerable settlements

Greater Mumbai covers an area of 437.71 sq. There are in all 2335 slum settlements as per
km. that constitutes 0.14 per cent of the total area of 1985 data in Mumbai. These slums are considered
the State of Maharashtra. The Mumbai Suburban as vulnerable settlements due to their location and
District covers an area of 370 sqkm. The District access to infrastructure.
consists of one administrative sub-division 1. Hill tops slums
comprising three Tahsils (that is, Kurla, Borivali and
Andheri). The district covers 15 municipal wards of 2. Slopes
BMC, and is also referred as Eastern Suburbs and 3. Nallahs
Western Suburbs.
4. Low laying areas
BrihanMumbai receives rains from southwest
monsoons, which commence usually in the first 5. Coastal locations
fortnight of June and last till the end of September.
6. Under high tension wires
Pre-monsoon showers are received in May. In
Mumbai the district receives average seasonal 7. Along highways
rainfall of 236.0 mm. during the average. In Mumbai
8. Along Railway Lines
city district, the average maximum temperature is
31.2 degree Celsius, while the average minimum 9. Within Industrial Zones
temperature is 23.7 degree Celsius. The average total
annual rainfall is 2146.6 mm. The maximum annual 10. Pavements
rainfall was recorded in 1954 at 3451.6 mm. 11. Along water mains
One Municipal Commissioner, 4 Additional 12. Along Open drainage
Municipal Commissioner, 2 Joint Municipal
Commissioner, 11 Deputy Municipal Commissioners These slums are located on the lands of state
and 30 Assistant Commissioners are handle Mumbai government (25 %), BMC (20 %), Housing Board
city and Suburban administrative work. and central government (5 %), private lands (50 %).

Slums are considered as vulnerable settlements Most of these flooding points have been listed
due to their location and access to infrastructure. The
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52 National Conference GEO Informatics

in the ward plans and have a localised impact. Landslides

However, some of these flooding points have a
Greater Mumbai also faces the risk of
tendency to disrupt the traffic and paralyse city life.
Landslides With pressure on land, many vacant sites
A number of steps such as de-silting of drainage on hill slopes or bottoms of hills have turned into
and clearing of nallahs are taken by BMC and inhabited area and thereby become vulnerable to
Railways to avoid such flooding. However, a landslides. Most cases of landslides occur during
combination of heavy precipitation and high tide may heavy rain associated with high velocity winds. It
make such flooding unavoidable. sometimes results in loss of human lives and damage
to structure.
Fires
Road Accidents
Greater Mumbai is greatly diversified and
practically has every type of fire risk. The fire risk The major road sections in Mumbai, which are
can arise from the following sources: accident-prone in Mumbai city along with details of
fatal and serious injuries.
Large number of closely built old timber framed
buildings Industrial and Chemical Accidents
High-rise buildings with inadequate fire-fighting There are approximately 900 industries either
facilities involved in the manufacture and processing of
hazardous goods or in the storage of hazardous goods.
Commercial activities in City area
A comprehensive list of these industries along with
Small, medium and heavy hazardous industries fact sheets are given in a separate volume. Many of
in suburban areas these godowns are in the close proximity of the
residential areas or other storages, thereby increasing
Widespread docks area the risk of fires and chemical explosions in residential
Oil refineries in M-W ward as well as industrial estates.

Petrochemical industries The major concentration of the hazardous

industries is seen in the Chembur-Trombay belt,
Large slum settlements. spread over an area of about 10 square kilometres,
There are 26000 officers and men spread over having major chemical complexes, refineries,
25 stations, to fight the fires. fertilizer plants, atomic energy establishment and
thermal power station. Clustering of various
Earthquakes: As per the 1991 census, Greater operating units make them highly vulnerable.
Mumbai has 2,768,910 dwellings, including
residential, commercial and industrial establishments. Cyclones
Of these, only 9.08 % of the dwellings were made of Being an island city, the coastal wards (facing
re-inforced concrete while 31.35 % were engineered the Arabian Sea) are prone to gusty winds and
masonry constructions. Thus, 59.57 % of all cyclonic impacts. Originally, most of the fishing
constructions were non-engineered. This can partly villages were located along the coast. Additionally,
be attributed to the large percentage of population in most of these wards, a number of slums have also
living in the slums. mushroomed along the coast. Given the quality of
There are 19642 cessed buildings in Mumbai housing material used, these settlements are highly
city district. Due to the Rent Control Act restrictions vulnerable and the possibility of their capacity to
against raising the monthly rent, the landlord did not withstand the cyclonic storm is limited.
take up maintenance of buildings for several years. These areas may require evacuation to
This has resulted in the deterioration of the buildings temporary shelters or identified safe sites.
ultimately leading to their collapse. The Maharashtra
Government intervened and took over the Mitigation measures
responsibility of maintaining these building by In view of the risk and the vulnerabilities
constituting the Bombay Building Repairs & identified in the earlier sections, the mitigation
Reconstruction Board in the year 1969. measures proposed have been categorised into three

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National Conference GEO Informatics 53

major headings : Road widening

Infrastructure improvement This is one of the major requirements on some
of the important arterial roads. For example, L.B.S.
Communication and Public Information Systems
Marg, S.V. Road, Cadell Road, Reay Road etc., have
Land use policies and planning serious bottlenecks and need to be cleared and
widened. In addition, there are many junction points
Infrastructure improvement for Greater or flyovers, which need improvements.
Mumbai has been examined in terms of transport,
services and housing infrastructures. These include Additional roads
road and rail networks, sanitation and sewer disposal
For clearing the heavy vehicle traffic between
system, storm water drainage systems, slum
Sion and the city, the proposed truck terminus at
improvement and housing repairs and retrofitting
Wadala should be made operational and the access
programmes. The dependent lifelines of Mumbai
to the terminal via Anik-Panjarapole section needs
which include water supply, electric supply, telecom
to be provided.
services, fuel, health, food supply etc, depend very
much upon the effective functioning of these Provision of special corridors for Fire Brigade,
infrastructural facilities. Ambulances, Police
Transport infrastructure Keeping in view, the location of municipal and
government hospitals, fire stations and police
The requirements of projected passenger traffic,
stations, special corridors for the movement of fire
rise in vehicular density, and the increase in number
brigade, ambulances and police can be identified and
of vehicles, both private and public, will put
reserved for these services. Plan should be evolved
tremendous pressure on the existing transport
to ensure that no other traffic is allowed to block the
infrastructure and road network.
movement of these emergency service units. This
For reduction of road accidents, reducing provision of reserved corridors requires
disruptions resulting from floods and increasing the identification of inter-connecting small lanes and by-
response time of the emergency services, a lanes so as to ensure complete north-south and east-
comprehensive mitigation strategy to improve the west mobility. No parking or any other
transport infrastructure becomes imperative. encroachments should be permitted on such
identified corridors.
Expansion of rail services
Provision of special corridors for BEST
The proposals of additional railway corridors,
that is, the Sixth Corridor and the Seventh Corridor, In order to ensure that BEST buses do not slow
need to be reviewed and refined further for down the traffic movement and also get a required
implementation. priority being a mass transport, lanes can be reserved
on the main roads for these buses. On such roads
Most of these projects have a component of with reserved lanes, the left-turn for other traffic
resettlement as well. These projects will be should only be permitted at the signals.
implemented by different agencies and hence call for
a co-ordinated approach of the technical and non- Services and related infrastructure
technical component with emphasis on participatory
Sanitation facilities
planning and management of resettlement.
Although there has been no serious outbreak
Road over Bridges (ROB) and flyovers
of any epidemic in the city during the last thirty years,
In addition, Maharashtra State Road and there has been a daily quality monitoring of water
Development Corporation (MSRDC) is undertaking supply, sanitation facilities are inadequate. It is
the work of construction of flyovers across MMR estimated that more than 40,000 toilets are required
region. Fifty such flyovers have been sanctioned out to achieve a ratio of 1:25 families. The Slum
of which 43 flyovers are in Greater Mumbai. Works Sanitation Programme of the BMC may provide some
on majority of them have already started. A relief, but is has serious limitations to reach out to
comprehensive traffic review will be required once all the population. Innovative and non-conventional
all these projects are completed. approach to sanitation is required with sufficient
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54 National Conference GEO Informatics

financial allocations and political back-up. Repairs and Reconstruction Board of MHADA
has been receiving a set-back in achieving their
Sanitation infrastructure at places of mass
targets due to various reasons, especially financial
congregation reasons. As a part of mitigation efforts, the Board
Mumbai attracts a large domestic tourist traffic. has to ensure that repairs carried out on these cessed
Also it has a number of locations of mass buildings should also take into consideration
congregation. It is essential that these tourist and mass earthquake and cyclone impacts. This would mean
congregation locations are provided with adequate an additional financial requirements. Also, buildings
water and sanitation infrastructure. Mobile sanitation for retrofitting need to be identified and appropriate
facilities can be one of the options. Alternatively, technical options provided.
permanent sanitation infrastructure need to be made
Informal settlements
available at these locations for the visitors to ensure
health safety for the local residents. Most wards in the western suburbs have a
coastal line dotted with informal settlements. As
Nallah training, soling and cleaning
mentioned earlier, these settlements are most
The settlements along the nallahs are vulnerable vulnerable to cyclonic impacts because of the type
to floods. Also, in the absence of training, soling and of housing material used. In order to reduce such
regular de-silting (cleaning), most of these nallahs impacts, the quality of housing in these settlements
have a tendency of flooding and choking. It is need to be upgraded.
necessary that a programme of nallah training, soling
Under the current provisions of settlement
and cleaning is undertaken rigorously through the
improvement, various programmes have been
Storm-water drainage department of the BMC. This
promoted with limited success. Presently, Slum
may require shifting of some of the settlements along Rehabilitation Scheme (SRS) is a major programme
the nallahs. for improving the shelter quality.
Increasing capacity of storm water drainage Communication and Public Information Systems
The present capacity of the storm-water drains Public Information System (PIS) demands that
needs to be augmented to a higher capacity which is
people are kept aware and informed in the entire cycle
under serious consideration with the Government of
of disaster management from the stage of risk
Maharashtra/BMC. In keeping with this present
assessment. A lot of community education, awareness
concern, care should be taken to ensure that no natural building, plan dissemination and preparedness
storm-water holding ponds are allowed to be exercises has to precede if a meaningful PIS is made
encroached upon and reclaimed. The proposal of operational.
delinking sewer and storm water drainage system
would further increase the capacity of storm water Wireless communication
drainage and reduce the coastal pollution. The twin
For efficient co-ordination and effective
goals of the delinking need to be re-enforced through
response, communication amongst line departments
early implementation of these projects.
such as BMC, police, fire brigade, municipal/
Upgrading Emergency Services government hospitals, meteorological centre and
BEST is essential. This can be ensured by upgrading
The response operations of the emergency the present communication system with a more
services of police, fire brigade and hospitals are often
efficient wireless system. The wireless system should
hampered due to inadequate equipments and
be full-duplex and also enable communication with
facilities. These departments are currently engaged
different line departments.
in identifying specific items, which will help them
in their response operations. Helping these services Display Boards
to obtain such identified items would be a part of the
Also, as a part of mitigation measure, electronic
mitigation strategy.
information display boards should be installed which
Housing infrastructure could be monitored from BMC control room. The
messages displayed are essentially instructional
Retrofitting and renovation of cessed buildings during the time of disasters. The information

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National Conference GEO Informatics 55

displayed will direct public response and help the development of new townships such as Navi
administration in localising the impact. In the normal Mumbai, as strategies towards decongesting the
times, the same display boards can be used for island city. Simultaneously, efforts have also been
community education on social issues and disaster made to shift employment opportunities by shifting
preparedness messages. some of the major commercial activities such as port,
agriculture, steel and other wholesale markets outside
The Traffic Police and BMC have jointly
Mumbai. The potentials of regional dispersions in
identified 44 locations where these display boards
the MMR needs to be further pursued by concerted
can be put-up.
strategies incorporating job location and
Public address systems at railway stations and bus infrastructure development.
stations The bifurcation of Greater Mumbai in Mumbai
All railway stations, BEST bus stations, city and Mumbai Suburban districts is more a revenue
MSRTC bus stations within MMR region, should administrative arrangement whereas the Greater
have the facility of public address system to keep Mumbai as a whole has a Municipal Corporation
the passengers updated on traffic situation. divided into wards for managing municipal services.
The two District Collectors will assist the Municipal
Land use policies and planning Commissioner in all aspects of disaster management.
The Draft Regional Plan for MMR Region The Municipal Commissioner vide order
1996-2011, provides a basic framework for the land No.ENV/1093/DEA/CR/36/TK dated 16th February,
use policies and indicates the directions for planning. 1994 is appointed as the District Disaster Officer
Within the context of the policy framework for Greater Mumbai. In majority of the disasters
incorporated in this document and the priorities listed, within the managerial capacity of BMC, the BMC
the following can be brought within the purview of will manage the disaster situation without
the mitigation strategy.
Additional Chief Secretary Chairman
Improvement and protection of landfill sites
Secretary, Relief and Rehabilitation Member
It is observed that at all the landfill sites, the Secretary
current practice of crude dumping and absence of Secretary, Home (Law and Order) Member
watch-and-ward has led to proliferation of informal Secretary, Housing Member
settlements thereby adding to the already existing
Secretary, Medical Education Member
stock of vulnerable settlements. This also results in
loss of opportunity to use such sites through Secretary, Food and Civil Supplies Member
compacting and providing layers of soil cover for Divisional Commissioner (Konkan) Member
alternate safe siting of vulnerable settlements and
Transport Commissioner Member
pavement dwellers.
Municipal Commissioner Member
Control on land reclamation
intervention from the State authorities. Micro-level
All existing water bodies and storm water plans at ward level have been prepared for all the 23
holding ponds will have to be protected under strict wards incorporating specific responsibilities of ward
development control rules. Clauses providing for any officer who will act as Ward Disaster Manager. The
exceptions should be deleted from the development disaster management operations for functionaries at
control rules. the ward level has been given in Section XI.
Decongestion However, in cases of disasters of exceptionally
Mumbai being an island city, has reached its large magnitude which requires co-ordination with
maximum capacity in terms of services and wide range of lateral agencies including central
infrastructure. The GOM has been pursuing the government agencies, the Additional Chief Secretary
policy of guided land development schemes such as (Home) will assume the responsibility of Disaster
Bandra-Kurla complex, Oshiwara district centre, Manager for Mumbai.
Powai area development scheme, transfer of Co-ordination arrangements for managing
development rights from south Mumbai to suburbs,

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56 National Conference GEO Informatics

receipt of warning and response operations on Municipal Commissioner Chairman

occurrence of disaster are given in separate charts. Deputy Municipal Commissioner - In- Member
There will be a Mumbai Disaster Management charge BMC Control Room Secretary
Committee under the chairmanship of Additional Collector, Greater Mumbai District Member
Chief Secretary (Home). Collector, Mumbai Suburban District Member

The Committee will consist of the following Collector, Thane Member

depending on the type of disaster and its intensity Transport Commissioner Member
Joint Commissioner of Police Member
Functions of the Mumbai Disaster Management
(Law and Order)
Committee
Additional Commissioner of Police Member
Commissioner of Police Member
(Traffic)
General Manager, Central Railway Member Chief Fire Officer, BMC Member
General Manager, Western Railway Member General Manager, Central Railway Member
General Manager, Konkan Railway Member General Manager, Western Railway Member
General Manager, BEST Member Director, Medical Services, GOM Member

Dy. Director General, Meteorology Invitee Executive Health Director, BMC Member
Department Director, Civil Defence and Home Guards Member
Secretary, Industries Member General Manager, BEST Member
Chairman, Mumbai Port Trust Member General Manager, BSES Member
Director, MPCB Invitee Technical Director, MSEB Member
Executive Engineer, Water and Sanitation, Member
Secretary, Public Works Member
BMC
Director, Airport Authority of India, Invitee Controller of Rationing Member
Mumbai Director, Industrial Safety and Health Member
GOC, Maharashtra Gujarat Area Invitee Chief Engineer, PWD, GOM Member
Commander, Mumbai Sub Area Invitee Director General, Information and Public Member
Relations
Colonel General (Staff) Invitee
Providing easy access to rescue and relief
Ensure effective inter-departmental co-ordination personnel/vehicles
between all state departments
Corpse disposal
Provide policy decisions when required
Law and order
Keep the government informed about disaster
situation Divert traffic on alternate routes as and when
necessary in co-ordination with BEST
Review disaster related activity reports received
from BMC Control Room, Police Control Room Request MPT for providing access through MPT
and Army Control Room and provide appropriate roads during emergencies for specific time
directions. duration and monitor the requirement of such an
access
Co-ordinate the activities of lateral, and
Central Government agencies like Set-up an information centre to organise sharing
of information with mass media and community
Functions of Control Rooms:
Co-ordinate with BMC Control Room
Cordoning of area to restrict movement of
vehicular and pedestrian traffic BMC Control Room:

Shifting the rescued/affected people to hospitals Emergency supplies of water and cooked food
Transfer of stranded and marooned persons

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National Conference GEO Informatics 57

Emergency transport for the seriously injured ensure maximum community participation in all
stages of operation in order to maintain community
Setting up temporary shelters
morale and confidence, maximise the use of local
Salvage Operations resources and promote a faster recovery. Disaster
management situations offers a wide range of choice
Corpse disposal and demands a immediate decision making. The
Assistance to other control rooms for movement/ participation of communities and their
transport of staff including Rescue parties, Relief representatives would reduce the pressures on the
Personnel and Relief Materials field agencies with regard to the choice and
uncertainties of community’s response to the
Communicate to EOC additional resources decisions.
required by various control rooms
Based on local dynamics, ethos and the
Establishing communication links with experience of Mumbai, an appropriate strategy to
EOC ensure community support has been evolved. Such
efforts to enlist community support and participation
Mutual Aid and Response Group have gone a long way in reassuring the community
about the administration’s intent and seriousness
NGO coordinating committee
about managing the disaster.
Private donors
Efforts to enlist community participation is
Non-governmental Organisations (NGOs) and being ensured by
Voluntary Agencies
identifying situational, opinion and position
The non-governmental organisations and leaders in the community and voicing
voluntary agencies play an important role in disaster administration’s confidence in their capabilities
management and provide a strong band of committed to undertake the tasks.
volunteers with experience in managing the disasters.
Consultations and dialogues expressly indicating
Their strength lies in the choice of their manpower,
the need for assistance would encourage the
the informality in operations and flexibility in
community and its leaders to come forward.
procedures. These organisations enjoy a fair degree
of autonomy and hence can respond to changing Regular feedback meetings and an open book
needs immediately. approach to demonstrate transparency.
However, in order to maintain uniformity in Involving community in decision making at
operations and effective co-ordination, it is desirable local levels
that they follow the standards of services (as given
in the Guidelines), information exchange and During Evacuation
reporting so as to enable the Municipal For appropriate security and law and order
Commissioner to have a total picture of resource evacuation would be undertaken with assistance from
availability, disbursements and requirements. NGOs community leaders and community based
therefore have been assigned specific tasks by the organisations (CBOs). The entire family would
Municipal Commissioner to undertake relief work evacuate together as a unit. However, to avoid
within the overall institutional framework. As and stampede and confusion and in cases of inadequate
where possible, NGOs may also be able to improve transport or limited time, emergency evacuation
the quality of delivery of services. In addition, would be undertaken in the following order :
Mohalla Committees have been operating at the
community level, especially in times of emergencies seriously injured and sick
like house collapses, fires, floods. Such committees children, women and handicapped
have been identified at the ward level.
Old
Areas of Community Participation
Able-bodied
BMC and NGOs at the disaster site should

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58 National Conference GEO Informatics

In case of evacuation, people would be advised Community leaders could be given the responsi-
to follow these steps bility for ensuring the following community
behaviour
Secure their homes/establishments. Close and
lock doors and windows. People stay calm and panic behaviour is not
encouraged. Regulate helter-skelter running or
Turn off the main water valve and electricity
crowding of people.
Leave early enough to avoid being trapped.
Encourage people to stay at a secured place and
Follow. recommended evacuation routes. Not protect themselves from injuries.
to take shortcuts. They may be dangerous.
People do not enter damaged buildings or
Not to move into flooded areas because the structures
authorities may have removed the manholes for
People do not touch electric poles, utility wires/
efficient drainage and the indicators may get
cables
shifted due to water currents.
People do not use telephones except in life-
Stay away from downed power lines.
threatening situations.

About Author
Mr. V. V. Vaidya is a chief officer of disaster management cell, Municipal Corporation of
Greater Mumbai. He has done his B.A. and has participated in workshop on disaster
management in Kobe, Japan. He is also a member of disaster management committee.

V. P. M.’s. Polytechnic, Thane, M.S.

National Conference GEO Informatics 59

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60 National Conference GEO Informatics

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