Every year, the monsoon season disrupts life across Indian cities with heavy rainfall, waterlogging and traffic chaos. But July 26, 2005, stands out as a day that etched itself into Mumbai’s history as one of its darkest and most devastating.

On that day, Mumbai received an unprecedented 944 mm of rain in just 24 hours, nearly half of its annual average. Between 8 am and 8 pm alone, 644 mm poured down. It remains the eighth-highest 24-hour rainfall ever recorded anywhere in the world. The city, unprepared for such intensity, was brought to a grinding halt.

Internet Flooded With Old Visuals, Still Haunting Mumbaikars

Several netizens took to social media to share haunting visuals from the 2005 Mumbai floods, recalling the day when the city came to a complete standstill. Many described it as an unforgettable chapter in Mumbai’s history, marked by chaos, resilience and unity.

While some reflected on the overwhelming scale of the disaster, others remembered how the crisis revealed the undying spirit of Mumbai, with strangers helping each other and communities coming together in the face of adversity.

Mumbai’s Lifeline Took Serious Hit, 52 Local Trains Damaged

As floodwaters rose, roads vanished beneath torrents of water. Local trains, the city’s lifeline, stopped completely, with tracks submerged and 52 trains damaged. Thousands were stranded in stations, schools and offices overnight. Low-lying areas like Dharavi and the Bandra-Kurla Complex were heavily inundated, while vehicles were swept away or immobilised.

The scale of disruption was staggering. Over 37,000 auto-rickshaws, 4,000 taxis, 900 BEST buses and 10,000 trucks and tempos were either damaged or rendered unusable. Even the skies were no refuge. For the first time ever, Mumbai’s airports shut down, with Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport and the Juhu airstrip closed for more than 30 hours. More than 700 flights were cancelled or delayed, creating nationwide ripples in air traffic.

Over 900 Killed, Property Worth ₹5.5 Billion Destroyed

The economic loss was estimated at Rs 5.5 billion (around 100 million USD). But the cost in human lives and suffering was far greater. According to official reports, 914 people lost their lives, many due to drowning, electrocution and landslides. More than 14,000 homes were destroyed, leaving thousands without shelter, food or drinking water.

Communication networks also failed. Around 5 million mobile users and 2.3 million landline connections went dead for several hours, hampering emergency rescue operations. Emergency services were overwhelmed, as the city grappled with a disaster it had never imagined.

The 2005 floods served as a harsh wake-up call, exposing Mumbai’s vulnerability to extreme weather. In the years since, the government has worked on improving disaster preparedness, such as creating specialised disaster management units, upgrading early warning systems and installing floodgates and dewatering pumps at critical points.

Yet, even two decades later, as visuals from 2005 resurface each year, a haunting question persists: Is Mumbai truly prepared to face another flood of that magnitude?

Mumbai: There has been no significant progress in the drug planting incident in Kalina involving four police personnel, even after almost 11 months.

The Vakola police have neither taken any action against the four accused police personnel, nor have they filed the chargesheet or properly recorded eyewitness statements. They have also not added additional NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) sections to the case, applying only bailable sections instead. As a result, the accused were granted anticipatory bail.

About The Case

On August 30, 2024, four policemen allegedly planted drugs in the pocket of 31-year-old Dylan Estbeiro, an innocent man working at a livestock farm in Kalina, Santacruz East. The entire incident was captured on CCTV, exposing the four police personnel.

The incident dates back to August 30, 2024, when PSI Vishwanath Omble and three constables – Imran Shaikh, Sagar Kamble, and Yogendra Shinde (also known as Dabang Shinde) – in plain clothes from the Khar police station visited Shahbaz Khan’s livestock farm in Kalina, Santacruz East, where Dylan Estbeiro was working. They allegedly frisked Dylan and planted 20 grams of mephedrone in his pocket during a staged search, later accusing him of drug possession.

The entire incident was captured on CCTV, which was later reviewed and shared publicly by Shahbaz Khan. Following the release of the footage, Dylan was released by the Khar police. The video sparked public outrage, prompting then-Deputy Commissioner Raj Tilak Roushan to suspend all four officers on August 31. Nearly three and a half months after the incident, the case was filed under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

The Sewree Police have registered a case against the victim’s father and brother-in-law under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) and rape charges for sexually abusing a minor girl. While the police have arrested the brother-in-law, the father remains absconding after the case was filed. Authorities are conducting a search for the accused.

The victim, a 16-year-old girl, alleged in her complaint that in April 2024, her father covered her face with a cloth while she was sleeping at home and sexually assaulted her. He also threatened to kill her mother if she disclosed the incident, leaving the victim too terrified to speak out. Later, in March (year unclear—needs verification), when the girl was alone at home, the accused allegedly molested her again.

After the victim recently approached the police, a case was filed under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for rape and the POCSO Act. The brother-in-law has been arrested, while the father is still at large.