Blogs & SMS step in to revive Mumbai

With self-help being the best help for flood-hit Mumbai, a profusion of blogs, websites and SMS campaigns has been helping people deal with the disaster as civil society steps in where the government has not, reports The Economic Times.

"With confusion persisting amongst government bodies, new age media is providing emergency numbers and other vital tips for a harassed people to get back to normal life after last week's floods.

Though the print and broadcast media did a good job of covering the entire fiasco, there was little that people could put into practical use at a time like this," Mumbai-based theatre personality Raell Padamsee told IANS.

"What people were looking for was how to tackle the situation on an hour-to-hour basis, and that's where the new media stepped in," she said.

Padamsee has initiated a people's movement via SMS called SMSjaag, aimed at drawing support for public interest litigation (PIL) against the callousness of the authorities in not maintaining the city's civic amenities.

The flood of desperate SMS messages looking for information about missing people and calling out for help also continue unabated on television channels -- 10 days after torrential rainfall caught India's financial hub unawares and killed more than 400 people.

Related:

-- Mumbai Police sends out SMS: Please do not Travel

-- R u safe & dry: SMS floods Mumbai networks

Picture from the BBC.