July 28: Rumours of an impending cyclone hitting the city triggered off an exodus of office goers in the city on Tuesday afternoon. The weather bureau had forecast only heavy rains for the next 24 hours, however, wild rumours of a violent cyclone had already begun ricocheting all around the city.Receiving the heavy weather warning from the weather bureau, the state government decided to allow government employees to leave the offices early.Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde told the legislative council that the disaster management plan authorities had been put on alert and that rumours of a cyclone needn't be believed.However, the council was adjourned early at around 4 pm today to facilitate Vidhan Bhavan employees to reach home early.Various state and central government offices all over the city allowed their staffers to leave by 3 pm. The Mantralaya, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai University and headquarters of the western and central railways emptied out this afternoon.Markets, shops and business establishments wore a deserted look by early evening.Some offices held out but later relented, allowing the staffers to leave. After the June 28 deluge which stranded thousands, nobody wanted to take chances.Apurva Dutta, an officer at the Life Insurance Corporation (LIC), was amongst the last employees to leave around 4 pm. He said that he heard about the cyclone but didn't see any signs of it. ``In any case as a precautionary measure and after last month's experience, it seems prudent to leave early.''``I heard all about this cyclone and I'm waiting for it to hit,'' said star Jackie Shroff, who finished shooting and returned home early today. ``If there is going to be a cyclone, I'd rather be at home with my family when it happens!'' he said.That thought weighed heavily on the millions of commuters. Rush hour traffic began much earlier today at CST and Churchgate stations. Jyoti Makwana, a lady police constable with the Railway police at Churchgate railway stationobserved, ``The crowds have been pouring in since 2 pm, the trains are also running a little late.'' By 4 pm crowds at both stations swelled and commuters outdid each other in boarding trains.Meanwhile, the intermittent rain that began on Monday flooded certain stretches of the city including the Milan subway, Sion and Matunga. Traffic crawled through the rain. Train services continued to run through the evening, though Central Railway trains were running slightly behind schedule.Municipal Commissioner Girish Gokhale held a meeting with the four additional municipal commissioners to discuss the Disaster Management Plan. He issued strict instructions to all the 23 ward officers to get their act together. They were instructed to station themselves at their ward offices so that they could be contacted in a crisis. Emergency gang members were also readied at ward offices.The BMC also contacted the BEST undertaking to keep buses on stand-by. Municipal schools were kept open to house people in case of anemergency.Anxious callers phoned this newspaper for details. One frantic caller from an office in Churchgate even wanted to know whether the Sachivalaya building had collapsed.
