Arvind Singhal: Managing through a crisis

MARKETMIND

The last week has been one of many unique experiences, and several revelations that are largely unpleasant with only a sliver of optimism. Like millions others, I was also caught in the unprecedented rains in Mumbai on the afternoon of July 26, and like many tens of thousands, ended up spending almost 16 hours literally trapped in a car without even being able to come out but for a fleeting minute or two during the entire ordeal.

It was a unique situation of total isolation even when all around there were hundreds of stranded vehicles and all through those long hours, thousands must have walked past my stranded car braving through the incessant rain. Of course, in retrospect, I discovered that I was one of the more fortunate ones.

As I found out during the rest of the day on July 27, there were countless others who were at heightened risks to their lives and had no choice but to wade through fairly high water levels to reach some place safer, if not drier.

Even though not a Mumbai resident, I had grown up to believe that this city was perhaps the most organised and more professionally managed in India. It took all of those 24 hours to shatter this myth.

There was no sign of any police or other law and order keepers anywhere, and yet a brazen police commissioner was facing the electronic media (flanked by an equally clueless municipal commissioner) that his forces were up to it and were doing what they were supposed to do.

Local politicians were apparently busy fending for themselves rather than being out to help the hundreds of thousands that included children and the infirm who were stranded everywhere with no water to drink or any other sustenance.

The chief minister and his home minister appeared like helpless caricatures who could only cite the "record" broken by the rain rather than showing any perceptible determination to act decisively.

The media-savvy civil aviation minister had nothing better to show on the TV than arrogant insouciance and the advice to those who were stranded all over major airports in India to have "patience" even as a remarkably articulate non-resident Indian mum was giving vent to her feelings about Indian airports and Air-India.

Was there any practical solution that could have mitigated the misery of the average Mumbaiker had there been a more responsive state administration? I believe there were some possibilities. It was reasonably clear by 4:00 p.m. on July 26 that Mumbai will see unusual water-logging, leading to traffic snarls.

The administration, with the help of mobile telephone and FM channel operators, could have issued advisories through cell phones (that were still working) and radio stations to suggest to the citizens to stay put in their homes/offices or else at least avoid those so-called expressways for some time.

As things became worse, the administration could have continued to issue updates and advisories to the average citizen through the same channels: cell phones, most of which did continue to work intermittently well into the night of 26th, and FM.

The administration could have taken a decision to deploy more civil defence personnel at key junctions to guide/assist the trapped citizens and in cases of emergency, flash SOS for any possible assistance using whatever communication was feasible.

Bottled drinking water (and other beverages) could have been managed at some locations at least, with the assistance of Mumbai-based bottlers, for those stranded on the two major expressways""surely the two multinational cola giants would have been happy to chip in with their support.

But then, not much can be expected any more from our politicians and our bureaucracy and hence their reaction (or lack of it) was only a reaffirmation of the depth of the rot that has set in.

What was surprising for me, though, was the less than exemplary response from some of the most important private institutions such as the electronic media (that largely chose to sensationalise an already critical situation), the private airlines, whose senior staff were seen pandering to the "VIPs" at Mumbai airport when it finally opened, and many major Mumbai-based corporate giants, who probably had some ability to muster relief efforts for the average citizen rather than only their own employees.

The bright spots? I am sure most of us who were caught in the situation have many encouraging stories to tell about ordinary human beings doing extraordinary things under the circumstances for others.

For me, ITC's Grand Maratha Hotel's staff stood out for their exceptional assistance and truly "welcom" hospitality even to those who did not have a room at the hotel. My taxi driver's first response, as we started to move away from the gridlock, was to recommend taking me to his sister-in-law's home to freshen up, even though he himself had suffered as much as I did. And finally, a salute to those tens of thousands of ordinary Indians who stoically walked and walked during that long night braving the deluge. They will surely remember this when the next elections come and they walk to the polling booths!

arvind@ksa-technopak.com