Monsoon - The one word which means a lot many words for various people in all walks of life. For farmers it means harvesting crops, seeing their efforts finally bearing fruit; for children its the start of yet another years at school,reunion with old friends and maybe making new ones; its the start of a windfall for people selling umbrellas. But for all these people and many more monsoon means one more significant thing: relief from the oppressive summer heat.

Mumbai has been no exception. The ever growing population of Mumbai has meant an increase in the amount of cement and concrete jungles. This in turn has led to an increase in the heat levels in the city. As a result people have always welcomed monsoons with glee. But the situation has been rapidly changing in the past few years. People, though still relieved with the advent of monsoon, also have some trepidation about it. The BMC has been unable to cope up with the ever increasing population of Mumbai. The increase in the number of housing projects, malls, roads etc has meant that the water entering the city has no place to go to. The drainage systems have been clogged. All it takes is one heavy downpour and the city comes to a standstill. What’s more, this constant water logging is proving to be quite fatal for the lives of many people due to the uncovered manholes throughout the city.

It was a very sad day indeed for the city when the American Embassy had to issue a directive to its people in Mumbai to be careful during the monsoons. Though the citizens and the BMC officials reacted with fury and sought to give various explanations, no one stopped for a moment to think about how it could come to all this. There have been a lot of plans announced in the past few years. But one still has to see them being implemented.

Lets hope that the officials take appropriate steps to ensure the safety of the citizens. Lets hope monsoon becomes safe again. Lets hope monsoon becomes beautiful again.