High Tides and the Monsoon

June 20, 2016

Every season has a special bond with us, be it Summer, Monsoon, or Winter, with Spring making only a fleeting appearance in Mumbai. Truth be told, the season which rivets us all in Mumbai, is the Monsoon!

All during the summer months we talk about the arrival of the rains and pray that it comes on time etc. However, when the rains do come along, within a few days of getting cooled down by it, we get most annoyed with the challenges that come with the rains!

The issue of flooding of certain low-lying areas is one of these challenges, and despite the efforts of the MCGM, are a certainty each monsoon. It is not always the amount of rain that causes the flooding, but it happens when the High Tide coincides with rainfall. This is because the rainwater cannot get discharged into the sea, since water from the sea gets into the storm-water drains, thereby blocking the rainwater from draining out.

This problem can be tackled however, as the tides are predicted well in advance and are freely available to the public. The tides are calculated and published by the Mumbai Port Trust in the form of “Tide Tables”, a small booklet which lists the daily tides along with their timings and expected height. The Tide Table is for the full year, and is published each year.

As part of our efforts to equip Mumbaikars with the information they need, we are putting up a selected list of very high tides for the Monsoon months, i.e. June to September, compiled by MCGM from the Tide Table Book 2016. Any High Tide over 4.5 metres can cause flooding if accompanied by even moderate rainfall. Therefore, we recommend Mumbaikars to take note of these dates or download and carry the chart with you.

One should also remember that the period of caution is actually 2 hours before and after the time mentioned in the chart.

It is reassuring to know, each of the 24 Municipal Ward Offices are functional with their respective Disaster Management Control Rooms. For your ready use, we are also putting up the list of Telephone Numbers of the Ward-wise Disaster Management Control Rooms.

The MCGM has also launched an updated version of their mobile app “Disaster Management (MCGM)”, available on the Google Play Store (Android ONLY).

You can also access the MCGM’s special website http://dm.mcgm.gov.in:9080/gmdma/

We hope that this information will be helpful to you and please feel free to share this page with your family and friends. Have a safe and happy Monsoon!

To view and download a PDF version of the High Tide List 2016 by the MCGM click here.

To view and download a PDF version of the Telephone Numbers of Ward-wise Disaster Management Control Rooms click here.

The Author, Indrani Malkani, is the Managing Trustee of V Citizens Action Network (VCAN) and is an Ashoka Fellow

Tags: Disaster Management and Community Resilience, Personal Safety

All our articles are periodically updated.