Heavy rains pummel Mumbai, its suburbs; waterlogging reported in low-lying areas

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai on Friday, inundating low-lying areas and disrupting vehicular traffic in the city and its suburbs.

Most parts of the city and suburbs witnessed a heavy spell of rain, which caused waterlogging in some low-lying areas at Andheri, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Chembur and some other places.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) Ltd diverted buses on more than 12 routes due to waterlogging in Sion in the afternoon, an official said.

Apart from this, motorists and pedestrians were severely inconvenienced as the Andheri subway was closed to traffic due to waterlogging.

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The railway authorities maintained that trains on the Western, Central and Harbour lines were running normally, while the commuters complained of a delay of up to 10 to 15 minutes in the services.

As per India Meteorological Department's weather warning issued at 1 pm, "moderate to intense spells of rain are very likely to occur at isolated places" in Mumbai in the next three to four hours, a civic official said.

However, the city recorded 30 mm average rainfall in 24 hours ending at 8 am, even as a warning of heavy to very heavy rains was issued for Thursday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) data revealed.

The island city, eastern and western suburbs received an average rainfall of 27.50 mm, 29.90 mm and 27.49 mm respectively in 24 hours ending at 8 am, the civic body's data showed.

Earlier on Friday, the IMD Mumbai predicted "heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs with the possibility of very heavy rainfall at isolated places" with occasional gusty winds reaching 45-55 kmph, for 24 hours, the official said.