India, Aug. 19 -- Torrential rain that did not let up from Sunday night through Monday left many parts of Mumbai marooned but the impact was contained, thanks largely to a proactive civic administration that had learnt some hard lessons from three months earlier.

While the unusually early start to the monsoon exposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) lack of preparedness on May 26, the civic administration was ready for the triple-digit downpour this weekend, helped by a high tide that was not particularly intense.

In May, when the monsoon arrived 16 days early, the BMC had reduced the number of dewatering pumps from 482 to 41, citing underutilisation in previous seasons. The cutback proved ill-timed and costly for citizens...