As usual on 27 July,2005 the busy day started on the streets in Mumbai. Mumbai which is again called as a city which never sleeps came to a stand still when the heavy rains started pouring down. It was mid afternoon when roads in Mumbai were flooded with rain water. The strongest rain ever recorded in India shut down the financial hub Mumbai. It snapped the communication lines, closed airports, trains and stranded thousands of people.
The weather bureau issued a warning of heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds for the next 48 hours. Evidence of sheer force and volume of water could be seen across the city with compound walls collapsing and vehicles afloat. Trains slowed to a halt in the afternoon as the tracks being submerged under water more than eight inches of water. By 3.00pm, town offices had closed and commuters walked on to streets, desperately hoping to catch a train or any vehicle to reach home. Some people decided to stay back in office which was safe.
The main thing was when suburbs north of Mahim were plunged into darkness with Reliance Energy and BEST cutting off power supply in the evening. Southern part of Mumbai was unaffected by this. Those on the road had to walk through knee-deep water and at some place even till chest level. Property worth several crores is damaged.Rescue and relief operations could not be carried out because of breakdown in transport and heavy water logging at many places. Atleast 75 people were killed in two days of heavy rains and some feared to be buried in landslides.The number of death may increase. Even it took me 5 hours to reach home from my office. I had to walk the whole way down from Malad to Borivli which normally via bus takes 45 minutes. With heavy rains pouring down I had to cross the road were the water level was till the chest. It took me 30 minutes to cross the highly flooded road. But finally I made it with other fellow Mumbaikars through the water. My shoes were washed down and I had to walk the rest of my way home bare footed. Luckily I did not suffer any injury. Mumbaikars residing in the nearby residence areas really helped a lot to the senior citizens, females, children and others who were crossing the highly flooded road. Many commuters and school children were stuck in the BEST buses, rickshaws, taxis and other private vehicles for several hours without food and water.
Till two days the whole city was at halt with a very slow transport and people stuck up at many places. The army,navy and airforce people are working hard to help the people stuck up in Mumbai and the areas of Kokan, Raigad, Ratnagiri and other areas.
In short I can put down is even though it may take time to recover back with lots of property being damaged in Mumbai and the nearby areas, Salaam!! to all Mumbaikars who showed the courage and helped the fellow Mumbaikar in whatever way he can.

Mumbaites never die spirit prevails everytime.

Start Off
My day started at 4.00AM had my bath and breakfast till 5.30AM when I got a phone call from my friend Bhooshan please leave your house now and meet me up at Borivali station. Immediately I left and met Bhooshan at Borivali station at 5.45 AM. We got down at Andheri Station were we met Kaivalya and Aadesh . Kaivalya is a avid snake lover, rock-climber, mountaineer and trekker. He has been on several expeditions in the Uttar Kashi ranges as well as in Sikkim and the Zanskar range. From Andheri we started at 6.30 AM in the Qualis, picked up Elroy, Varun and Ranajit on the way. We zoomed up as there was hardly any traffic early in the morning.
About Karnala
While going on the Mumbai-Goa Highway we have noticed a thumb like rock resting on a mountain. The fort of Karnala is famous for its strange pinnacle and the bird sanctuary that is set up in the forest below the fort. We see the glimpse of the Pinnacle as we leave Panvel and are on the road towards Pen which goes through the green forest.
This important fort takes us back to the 12th and 13th century. Till the 15th Century the fort was under the Nizamshahi rule. After that it was ruled by the Maratha’s, Angres and Peshwas. Later in the 18th Century it came under the British rule.
Bird Sanctuary
The bird sanctuary is situated near the region of the fort. The sanctuary spreads over an area of 4 kms. More than 150 species of birds can be observed here. The birds include Paradise flycatcher, kites, owls, bulbuls, Maina, Shaheen Falcon and many more. Animals like monkeys,rabbits etc are also found here. Rules of prohibition of fire and no injury to any wild animals are to be followed strictly.
The Fort
From the bird sanctuary are the two ways to go to the fort. The way right goes through the forest and the simple road goes to the left. But we the gang decided to go through the dense forest. It was indeed a thrilling experience since it was raining the earth was slippery due to moss and heavy humidity in the air. Every step we took was carefull. But thanks to the Creepers,vines and plants grown all over. There were lots of crabs moving around. Its said the forest has leopards, but we did not see any of them. We even found some species of mushrooms on the bark of the trees and on ground. Till this time we were just going though the deep jungle with the giant creepers grown all over. A little later we came across a hill which had a steep climb. Thanks to Kaivalya for his help and guidance at this time. One slip of leg can take you down in the deep valley. The rains made our climb a little difficult. As we reached the Karmaidevi’s temple, the pinnacle which they call it the thumb shaped rock on the Karnala Fort became visible. But soon it was lost in the clouds and merged again. The main thing which attracts is the Fort’s Pinnacle whose height is about 175 / 180 ft. One can also see lots of honey combs around the Pinnacle.The honey bees get disturbed if they hear heavy sound/noise . So no sound/noise should be made near the Pinnacle. But to climb the Pinnacle you should be good climber with special equipments. From the top of the fort we see Pabalgad, Irshaalgad, Dhaak and forts of Rajmachi. On the west is Mumbai and the Elephanta Island. The forts visible from here help to keep a check on the surrounding region. The fort also contains some man-made caves and fresh water springs. Bhooshan and gang shooted some cool photographs of the nature from their Nikon and Olympus digital cameras. We were almost walking through the clouds at the top and the cold wind relaxed our bodies.
Our journey to the base camp was again thrilling because due to rains the soil was much slippery.
At the base we took a halt at the Kshanbhar Vishranti resort. We refreshed ourselves and for lunch we had Aloo Mutter, Jeera Rice, Dal Tadka with fresh lime soda and buttermilk.
After lunch we planned to go to a nursery nearby. But unfortunately it was closed down. So we decided to park the Qualis beside the road near the Karnala Bird Sanctuary and chatted, exchanged some tips and tricks on photography and then headed towards for Mumbai.
Finally we all thanked Kaivalya for his valueable guidance and to Amit Thakker for arranging the Qualis and food. Hope we once again plan such a good trek under the guidance of Kaivalya.

One thing I would like to add in short and sweet is — Love and Respect the nature,wild animals and other creatures and try to preserve and respect our historical monuments.

The Karnala Pinnacle image on top is still photographed by Bhooshan. For more images CLICK HERE

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