ONLINE ARTICLE - BMC's highest tide in 100 years claim sunk

Further to my recent findings online and managing to worry about yet another aspect of our journey out of our control - the weather, I just the following online.....

The Survey of India (SoI) has slammed the BMC for creating panic by declaring the 5.05-metre high tide expected on July 24 as the “highest

of the century’’. The survey’s research cell has pointed out the error in a letter to the civic agency. The “so-called hi-ghest tide of the century of 5.05 m’’ was factually incorrect, it said. “Tides of this height are quite normal for Mumbai,’’ read the letter from SoI expert Varuna Guddanti Kumar. SoI figures show that Mumbai witnessed its highest tide of 2009 in January, when water levels touched the 5.13-m mark. Yet another high tide of 5.07 m occurred at 1.14 am on February 11. SoI, a research body under the central department of science and te-chnology, has been giving accurate tidal predictions for the past 120 years. The ‘tide of the century’ claims had created panic among the citizens of Mumbai, Kumar told TOI. “I’m not saying that the BMC figures are wrong, but someone should have been aware of the fact that the highest tide to hit Mumbai’s shore was of 5.59 metres in 1989,’’ Kumar told TOI. BMC officials explained that a high tide alone may not mean anything. Mumbaikars might be affected if extremely heavy rains were to coincide with the tide. A comprehensive disaster management plan is in place for July 24, when the 5.05-m high tide is expected to hit, they said. BMC commissioner Jairaj Phatak admitted that there could have been an error on the civic body’s part. “The highest tides for this monsoon were compiled late in the night and therefore were not verified,’’ Phatak said. Last month, as part of its monsoon-preparedness plans, the BMC had declared dates for the highest tides expected on the city’s shore during the rainy season. It declared the July 24 tide of 5.05 m as the highest in the last 100 years. The other days when above-average high tides are expected are July 23 (1.23 pm, high tide of 5.01 m) and July 25 (2.43 pm, high tide of 4.94 m).