The water started overflowing Baba Bhide bridge, linking Deccan Gymkhana and Narayan Peth, by 10.30 am washing off nine eatery stalls erected along the riverside road. However, more was to come: the river went on rising throughout the day following discharge of 25,180 cusecs at 3 pm and another 20,905 cusecs at 5 pm. The water gushed into 19 slum pockets displacing 1,069 hutment owners.

Waters of the Mula river, which meets the Mutha near Sangam bridge, also gushed into slum pockets along Alandi road and Yerwada. Local corporator Shivaji Kshirsagar said 20 huts near Parnakuti were washed away.

Arjun Mastud, executive engineer of the Maharashtra Krishna valley development corporation (MKVDC) said it was forced to release water following heavy rains in the catchments of Khadakwasla, Panshet and Varasgaon dams. The Khadakwasla dam, which has a capacity of 56 million cubic metres, had only 60 per cent storage on Monday evening, but this shot up to 86 per cent by Tuesday morning.

Storage in Panshet and Varasgaon dams also increased. Water discharge from these two dams is stored in the Khadakwasla dam, which acts as a buffer between the two dams and the city. When the MKVDC decided to bring down the Khadakwasla storage level by releasing water into the Mutha, it alerted the district and civic administrations. An announcement about the impending water discharge was also made on All India Radio's morning news.

This helped the PMC and the district administration initiate measures to evacuate people from these slums. The PMC and district collectorate pressed into service jeeps and rickshaws with loudspeakers to urge people in these areas to shift to designated civic schools.

In some cases, where slum dwellers refused to shift, the district administration sought the help of the police and forced them to vacate their shanties. This avoided loss to life, but several huts and eatery stalls near Bhide bridge could not escape damage. Ratnadeep Khadke, president of the stall owners' association, however, congratulated the administration for alerting them to the impending flood, which he said helped them prevent major damage.