JOIN USHeavy rains lashed the metropolis on Wednesday, severely disrupting road, rail and suburban train services and caused inconvenience to lakhs of commuters and office goers.
“There is a traffic jam due to waterlogging in suburban Dadar, Parel, Chembur and LBS Marg in Ghatkopar. The Andheri subway has been closed down completely due to waterlogging.
“We have been getting distress calls from citizens right from the morning,” a senior Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) official said.
Traffic came to a halt on the Western Express Highway and on roads leading to the domestic airport from Kherwadi junction.
Mumbai suburban trains, the city’s lifeline was worst-hit due to waterlogging on tracks, delaying local services up to more than an hour on some routes.
“There are a few locations on the Central Railway like Kurla, Ghatkopar, Vikhroli and Bhandup where water has flooded the tracks and, hence, the main line is running late by about 20-25 minutes,” a Railway official said.
There is severe waterlogging on the Harbour line at stations like Kurla and Tilaknagar, which has resulted in the delay of train services by more than an hour, he said. Several commuters were stranded for hours due to the rail traffic halt between Kurla and Chunabhatti stations, another official said.
However, train services on the Western line are running with a “small delay” on the Virar-Churchgate route.
“We are continuously monitoring the situation of waterlogging and trying our best to resolve the problem at the earliest. Since these are non-peak hours, the damage caused is comparatively less,” the official added.
Delay in flights
Flights from Mumbai airport were delayed by half an hour. Seven flights were diverted due to heavy rain.
Meteorological department officials predict showers to continue for the next 48 hours after which the rainfall may slacken.
“A low pressure has now formed over the Bay of Bengal which has caused rainfall in the city. We expect the rainfall to last with the same intensity for the next 48 hours and after that it may reduce,” V K Rajeev, a Mumbai Met department official, said.