India: Heavy rains lash Mumbai, disrupt public transport

Heavy rains, coupled with thunderstorm and strong winds, lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Saturday, leading to disruption of train and bus services as tracks and roads got waterlogged at several locations, officials said.

A Central Railway spokesperson said the suburban train services between Dadar and Kurla stations on the main line were suspended after the water rose above the track level, while a Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport official said that several of its buses had to be diverted due to water-logging at some points.

At 10 am on Saturday, the India Meteorological Department had issued a thunderstorm warning for a few districts in Konkan region, including Mumbai, for the next three hours from that time.

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“Thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and moderate to intense spells of rain with gusty winds 30-40 kmph are likely to occur at isolated places,” the IMD said in its warning for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts of Konkan.

It had earlier issued an ‘orange alert’ for Mumbai for Saturday. An orange alert implies that authorities should be prepared to handle any situation arising out of severe weather condition.

The Central Railway official said, “Due to more than 61.21 mm rainfall in the last one hour, coupled with a high tide of 4.34 metres at 1.32 pm and closing of Mithi river floodgates, water level has been rising on track between Kurla and Sion.”

The suburban services on the Harbour line also slowed down due to water-logging on tracks near Chunabhatti station as a result of “extremely heavy rain”, he said.

Trains have been running at a restricted speed for safety reasons, the official said. The operations of local trains on other sections of the main line and other routes, including the Thane-Vashi line, are normal, he added.

A Western Railway spokesperson said that the suburban services on their corridors are running without any disruption, but they are closely monitoring the situation.

Water-logging was witnessed at several locations in Bandra east, Hindmata, King’s Circle, Kurla Kamani and Wadala.

The BEST spokesperson said the undertaking diverted its buses on at least 17 locations due to water logging on roads. Mumbai has been witnessing heavy rains since Wednesday.

• India