MUMBAI, Aug. 19 -- Torrential rain from Sunday night through Monday evening left much of Mumbai water-logged but in some areas, the impact was contained, thanks to a civic administration that had learnt some hard lessons from three months ago. While the unusually early start to the monsoon exposed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) lack of preparedness on May 26, the civic administration made an effort to reduce water-logging during the triple-digit downpour this weekend. They were also 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. This time, the civic body increased the number of pumps it pressed into service, from 417 to 514, exceeding previous years. Also, following the May 26 disaster, the BMC had imposed a penalty of Rs.10 lakh each on four pumping station operators, for lapses in their operations. Desilting operations, which had lagged in May, were fast-tracked, with 77% of key drains cleared by early June. Three months earlier, road concreting work across the city had further clogged drains, and places like Breach Candy, which usually don't flood, experienced unusual flooding. Additional municipal commissioner (projects), Abhijit Bangar, told HT, "One key difference compared to May 26 was that all pumps, both at mini-pumping stations and main pumping stations were fully operational. There were no reports of mechanical failures or lack of preparedness. We also knew that heavy rainfall was expected from August 16, for five consecutive days. This gave us time to prepare." Another factor that helped was the relatively low intensity of the high tide, which was at 3 metres, peaking at 7.46am. However, the downpour did not let up. Between 6 am and 2 pm on Monday, the eastern suburbs recorded 177 mm of rainfall, the western suburbs 149 mm, and the island city 173 mm. "It rained heavily across all three zones, but our field teams were working to address any issues promptly," said Bangar. When the IMD issued a red alert (extremely heavy rain, likely to cause disruption and damage) for Mumbai and surrounding districts, the BMC announced that schools and colleges would be shut for the afternoon session, with morning sessions released early. The city's emergency helpline, 1916, was publicised. Updates and advisories were issued in real-time, asking citizens to avoid unnecessary travel and stay indoors. But the situation on the ground was still challenging. Streets flooded in low-lying areas such as the Andheri subway, Elphinstone flyover, which was shut for a couple of hours, Lokhandwala, Matunga, Grant Road and Dadar. Rainfall between 8am and 12 pm on Monday was intense. Chembur recorded over 140mm, while Dadar, Wadala and Worli saw upwards of 130 mm. Some localities, though, escaped the fury. Ground floor residents in Kurla, who usually take refuge on higher floors every monsoon, were not stranded this year. Bait Khan, a local resident, said, "This year, a new storm water drainage system was installed and widened along CST Road, which gave us relief. Persistent waterlogging at Kismat Nagar appears to have been resolved. But three spots near Kalpana theatre - Sheetal theatre, Kurla Depot, and Al Barqat School - major waterlogging remains." As the rain refused to let up, civic engineers, pump operators, health workers and emergency response teams fanned out to cope with challenges that cropped up. An official from D Ward, Malabar Hill, said they had brought an extra set of clothes to stay overnight in the ward, as a red alert had been issued for the next 24 hours....