Heavy rains hit Mumbai, rail and air traffic affected

Mumbai: Heavy intermittent rains paralysed Mumbai on Wednesday as the city recorded 206 mm rainfall in the Santa Cruz observatory in only six hours. The city and adjoining areas have been witnessing heavy showers since Tuesday night, resulting in severe waterlogging, traffic disruptions and cancellation of suburban train operations.

A 62-year-old drowned in a nullah in Thane district’s Bhiwandi. Local train operations on all three lines — Western, Central and Harbour — were stopped during the day, while express trains were cancelled.

Many commuters stranded in the railway tracks chose to walk on foot to reach their destination. Western railways made emergency accommodations for long-distance train passengers at Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Santa Cruz and Andheri, among other places. Flight operations to and from Mumbai were also affected with a minimum delay of 30 minutes. At least five incoming flights had to go around due to poor visibility.

According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), extremely heavy rainfall is likely to occur for the next 24 hours in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar areas. “The city has witnessed the heaviest rainfall so far, with the total rainfall mark exceeding the whole of September in just about 30 hours. BMC and Mumbai Police are doing everything possible to keep us safe,” Yuva Sena President Aaditya Thackeray said in a tweet. Western suburbs recorded highest rainfall at 161.16mm on Wednesday evening, followed by eastern suburbs (143.55mm) and city region (111.72mm).

Vehicular movement was also affected in areas such as the Western Express Highway and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road where traffic was stuck for more than two hours in the morning. “At least 31 areas were flooded in Mumbai for which traffic was diverted, including roads in Andheri (east), Malad, Kurla, Sion, King’s Circle and Dadar,” said a BMC official. By noon, Mithi River whose flooding was the main reason behind 2005 deluge had crossed its danger mark, which inundated nearby residential and slum areas. At least 1,300 persons were evacuated from nearby Kranti Nagar due to the flooding.

Landslides were also reported in the Western Ghat areas of Raigad and Sindhudurg districts.