State still counting losses from weekend deluge
Rains continue to scare Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular. Last Saturday it took rain god just about 430 mm rains - as compared to 944 mm on July 26, 2005 - to throw life in country’s financial capital out of gear.
By TNN |
Rains continue to scare Maharashtra and Mumbai in particular. Last Saturday it took rain god just about 430 mm rains — as compared to 944 mm on July 26, 2005 — to throw life in country’s financial capital out of gear.
This also has revived that sinking feeling with crores of rupees going down the drain. For many heavy showers means heavy loss of business. The Saturday downpour, which left everybody high and dry, affected the entertainment sector. Multiplex chains were impacted, with occupancy levels dipping to 40% as compared to 80% occupancy on weekends.
A senior executive from Cinemax said, “This weekend was supposed to be a mega weekend four new releases — Die hard 4, Aap Ka Suroor, Apne and Awarapan. The rains dampened our box office expectations.” However, occupancy levels picked up, post 6 pm, once the water levels receded.
Almost all production houses had to cancel shooting on Saturday, but worked over time on Sunday to make up for the lost schedule. Sets in Andheri East, witnessed minor damages on account of water logging, but no major damage was witnessed.
Another new-age industry, IT, however, seems to be better prepared to handle rains. In one of the lessons learnt after the watershed year of 2005, BPOs have factored events like monsoons and transport strikes into their business continuity plans (BCP), so work continues smoothly.
The BCP may include shifting work to another centre in the country or doing work onshore and even extending the shift in case the people are unable to it. “Being a weekend, we anyway don’t work full capacity — so there wasn’t much impact. For two processes, we had to take additional help from Bangalore but no processes were shut down,” said the spokesperson of Firstsource Solutions, that has a 2,500-people strong operation in Mumbai. The firm had 40% attendance at its centre located at Malad, a Mumbai suburb.
Intelenet Global Services, which is headquartered in Mumbai, also had 50% attendance on Saturday and 85% on Sunday, so work was not affected. “We make arrangements such on-the-house food, a larger fleet of vehicles for employees’ transport, and arrangements for night-overs during the rains,” the Intelenet spokesperson said.
The worst hit, however, is the state government. Initial estimates suggest that the rains may make the state poorer at least by Rs 50 crore. The state government has announced a special package of Rs one crore each to worst rain-affected districts.
This is to improve their damaged infrastructure. Besides the government will also have to offer cash compensation for farmers that have lost their significant plantations. The state government has already set in motion process to gauge the damages. It will also have to offer compensation for over 55 deceased in various accidents due to torrential rains across the state.
“We are still accessing the damage,” said Mohan Gurnani, head federation of associations in Maharashtra, a traders body. “Initial reports do indicate considerable damage to grains, but it will take some time to known exact details,” he said.
This also has revived that sinking feeling with crores of rupees going down the drain. For many heavy showers means heavy loss of business. The Saturday downpour, which left everybody high and dry, affected the entertainment sector. Multiplex chains were impacted, with occupancy levels dipping to 40% as compared to 80% occupancy on weekends.
A senior executive from Cinemax said, “This weekend was supposed to be a mega weekend four new releases — Die hard 4, Aap Ka Suroor, Apne and Awarapan. The rains dampened our box office expectations.” However, occupancy levels picked up, post 6 pm, once the water levels receded.
Almost all production houses had to cancel shooting on Saturday, but worked over time on Sunday to make up for the lost schedule. Sets in Andheri East, witnessed minor damages on account of water logging, but no major damage was witnessed.
Another new-age industry, IT, however, seems to be better prepared to handle rains. In one of the lessons learnt after the watershed year of 2005, BPOs have factored events like monsoons and transport strikes into their business continuity plans (BCP), so work continues smoothly.
The BCP may include shifting work to another centre in the country or doing work onshore and even extending the shift in case the people are unable to it. “Being a weekend, we anyway don’t work full capacity — so there wasn’t much impact. For two processes, we had to take additional help from Bangalore but no processes were shut down,” said the spokesperson of Firstsource Solutions, that has a 2,500-people strong operation in Mumbai. The firm had 40% attendance at its centre located at Malad, a Mumbai suburb.
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Intelenet Global Services, which is headquartered in Mumbai, also had 50% attendance on Saturday and 85% on Sunday, so work was not affected. “We make arrangements such on-the-house food, a larger fleet of vehicles for employees’ transport, and arrangements for night-overs during the rains,” the Intelenet spokesperson said.
The worst hit, however, is the state government. Initial estimates suggest that the rains may make the state poorer at least by Rs 50 crore. The state government has announced a special package of Rs one crore each to worst rain-affected districts.
This is to improve their damaged infrastructure. Besides the government will also have to offer cash compensation for farmers that have lost their significant plantations. The state government has already set in motion process to gauge the damages. It will also have to offer compensation for over 55 deceased in various accidents due to torrential rains across the state.
“We are still accessing the damage,” said Mohan Gurnani, head federation of associations in Maharashtra, a traders body. “Initial reports do indicate considerable damage to grains, but it will take some time to known exact details,” he said.
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