The Hindu Business Line : Rains force Mumbai to pack up early

It was a short working day for several offices in Mumbai, despite being the first day of the week. Grey-skies and a heavy-downpour on Monday morning ensured that the commercial capital put on its rain-gear, as several schools closed down and offices allowed its employees to head home early.

Rain messages

Cell-phone users received messages from the BMC (BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation) cautioning them of heavy rains over the next 48 hours. July last year had seen flooding, loss of lives and property, resulting from 94 centimetres of rain that the city had received in a single day. BMC had come in for severe criticism last year and this time, it did not want to be caught off-guard.

Corporates across the city allowed its employees to leave early, officially or otherwise.

Circular

"In view of the rains, a circular has been directed to the officers of all departments to leave the office at four o'clock with due permission from the heads of the departments," said ICICI Bank spokesperson.

Siemens employees too were allowed to leave by 4 p.m. But no such official diktat was given to employees at a Bandra-based drug-maker, nevertheless they left early, for fear of "living another night in the office", an official said.

Flooded rail-tracks and submerged roads had stranded employees at their offices, last July. Some had to stay two consecutive nights at their offices.

Officers living in the suburbs have been allowed to leave early, albeit after seeking permission, a State Bank of India official said. But at Nabard, which had a good turnout of employees, no such advice was given, an official said.

And as always, the city's arterial railways, with some delays and stoppages, bore the burden of taking Mumbai's residents back to their homes.

Stock exchanges

The BSE Sensex witnessed low trading volumes on account of low attendance in most brokerage firms due to the heavy downpour witnessed this morning. Shares worth Rs 11.27 crore were traded.

"Volumes have been low throughout last week and they are following the same trend today as well. Also, the Sensex gained marginally today, up 86.01 points, so volumes were low along with rains playing a factor accounting for absenteeism of brokers and traders," said a dealer. The Sensex ended at 10,695.26 points, a 0.81 per cent increase from Friday.

Airways on time

People travelling into and out of Mumbai faced minor delays. Air India, Indian Airlines and Jet Airways flights are running on time or with a delay of 15-20 minutes, officials with the respective airlines said.