A commuter makes his way through a waterlogged road amid rainfall, in Mumbai.
Credit: PTI Photo
Palghar: With the Arabian Sea on one side and Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary and hill stretches on the other end, the Vasai-Nalasopara-Virar townships in the Palghar bore the brunt of the torrential downpour as heavy water-logging was reported from several localities.
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Since Sunday, the Vasai tehsil has been experiencing heavy rainfall, however, Tuesday, the intensity of the rains overwhelmed the infrastructure.
In the Vasai-Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) area, 497 people were temporarily shifted to safer locations.
Out of these, 57 persons have been rescued with the help of boats and other means, according to the Palghar District Collector’s office.
While the road traffic was in a mess because of water gushing into low-lying areas, the Western Railway suburban train services were affected because of waterlogging between Nalasopara and Vasai stations and point failures in the Vasai junction.
The problems were coupled with power outages at several locations by the Mahadiscom energy utility as a precautionary measure.
Mobile network issues too were reported.
"We are in a very difficult situation. Water has gushed into our flat. as we live on the ground floor. Besides, there is a power outage," said Hetal, a Vasai-based Yoga trainer.
The Ulhas River, which flows to the Arabian Sea, swelled at several places.
"It was a difficult day, there was a road traffic mess, the suburban trains were affected for several hours and there was a power outage. There was no message to the people from any utility services about the problems," said Kalyan Chatterjee, a corporate employee.
In Vasai East, there was massive waterlogging in the Evershine City and Vasant Nagari areas, in the Vasai West, several localities faced inundation.
Water gushed into the first floor of housing complexes at several places in Nalasopara and Virar, eyewitnesses said.
Traffic on the Mumbai-Gujarat Highway, which passes through Vasai, faced water-logging at several places slowing down the vehicular movement.
The under-construction Madhuban locality witnessed massive inundation with only the roof of four-wheelers visible.
There were hardly any auto-rickshaws ferried on the roads in Vasai-Virar.
In Vasai tehsil, water supply too was affected.
Known for his sense of humour, Vasai resident Shreekant Naik said that majority of the flats are getting a sea view.