Mumbai gets on its feet

Air and rail services restored; death toll rises to 250 in Mumbai.

Two days after the torrential rains brought India's financial hub to a stand still, the city started limping back to normalcy today with air and rail services being restored.

Western and Central Railways restored suburban services by evening. Long distance services to the city will be restored by Friday, a central railway spokesperson said. The death toll rose to 250 people in Mumbai while the state wide figure was put at 500 plus.

Big business in the city meanwhile is estimating losses. Assocham put out an early bird estimate of around Rs 1000 crore and said that Rs 800 cr is likely in insurance claims alone. The Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, however, pegged losses at Rs 2500 cr.

Industries operating in and around Mumbai are slowly limping back to operational status. Reliance's Patalaganga plant is expected to come online by Monday.

Nicholas Piramal's Goragaon research centre is also likely to resume operations by Monday. L&T's switchgear plant at Powai has stopped production until further notice.

FMCG major Godrej said its factory at Vikhroli is operational but its warehouses in Thane and Bhiwandi are badly damaged.

It also reported losses in transit and at wholesale depots. "We plan to source from other warehouses and supplies in the market will not be affected," said H K Press, executive director, Godrej Consumer Products Ltd.

An estimate by the Federation of Indian Export Organisations (FIEO) put has put export losses at Rs 820 in food and garment segments.

Said the FIEO western region president SK Saraf: "Exports will take at least another week to resume. We will know the final damage only our clients put in claims for the damaged goods." He also said that the poor shape of the feeder roads leading to JNPT is likely to cause further delays in exports getting back on track.

Markets which remained closed today are expected to open tomorrow and are expected to be volatile on account of two things. One, the expiry of the July series in the Futures & Options segment, and because of investor nervousness towards ONGC.

PM announces Rs 500 cr relief

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today announced Rs 500 crore as a special relief package for disaster-hit Mumbai city. The government is also releasing Rs 200 crore from the National Contingency and National Calamity Funds.

Singh was in the city to get a first hand account of the damage caused by two days of the unprecendented rainfall of 94.4 cm, the highest recorded in a single day. He was accompanied by Petroleum Minister Mani Shankar Aiyar who visited the Mumbai High.