High tidal waves in Mumbai

High tidal waves in Mumbai arouse curiosity and thrill

New Delhi: Amid suspense and the thrills of watching the gigantic waves lashing the coastal stretch, residents of Mumbai witnessed the last day of the high tide that struck the city over the past three days with the highest wave measuring nearly 5.5 metres. Saturday was the last day to witness spate of high tidal waves striking along the stretch of Arabian Sea in India's western Mumbai. Over the last two days, Mumbai witnessed huge waves, described by many people as one of its kind in last one century. On Friday, amid heavy downpour the high tide wave recorded a height of 5.5 meters. The unusual high tides are attributed to a combination of monsoon and strong gravitational pull of the moon two days after the new moon day. Those who missed the fury of the sea earlier due to the rains, for being at the school, office or for safety reasons, were lucky on Saturday to enjoy the last chance of getting drenched by the water sprayed by the tidal waves. Adventurous people for the past three days were thronging the Arabian seaside spots like the Gateway of India, Marine Drive, Worli Seaface, Dadar, Chowpatty, the stretch of beaches at Juhu and Versova to watch and even feel the thrills of splashes lashed by the giant waves. "Actually for the last couple of days there is a lot of commotion going on about high tide in Bombay. And we have never seen a tide of this magnitude in the last 100 years of 5 and 2.5 meters. Since it was not raining today, it was a good day to see the tide," said Abhinav Bhalla, a resident of Mumbai after witnessing the high tide at Haji Ali. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had placed warnings at various spots on the seaside and also made elaborate arrangements to face the likely flood in the low-lying areas. Barricades were placed along the seaside as a safety measure. Apart from the civic agencies, the Fire Brigade and the Coast Guard were placed on an alert while around 200 families were evacuated from the coastal stretches in the city. Fortunately no untoward incident took place in the past two days, prompting more people to frequent the seaside this weekend.
-July 25, 2009

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