Rain pounds Gujarat; Hyd express derails

Amid rain pounding several parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra, the Hyderabad express from Mumbai derailed near the Monkey Hill station in Khandala Ghat that connects the financial capital with Pune. No injuries have been reported in the incident that occurred at 3.30 pm, the Central Railway officials said.

A boulder knocked off the loco of 17031 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus-Hyderabad Express between Thakurwadi and Monkey Hill stations causing its derailment. An accident relief train has been rushed to the spot from Kalyan. The accident hit rail services in Mumbai-Pune section.

Heavy rain that lashed Maharashtra for the third consecutive day on Tuesday brought life to a standstill. The Tansa Dam in Thane district, one of the lakes that supplies drinking water to Mumbai, began overflowing, as the Colaba observatory recorded 120 mm rainfall on Monday and Tuesday and Santacruz observatory registered 200 mm. Monday and Tuesday were the wettest days in the last three years.

In Mumbai, waterlogging in Kurla slowed down Central Railway’s Main line and Harbour line services, while services on Western Railway was normal. Road traffic was badly hit in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. 

Traffic was affected as Sion, Parel, Lalbaug, Andheri and Jogeshwari areas reported waterlogging. Heavy rain in the Vasai-Virar belt, located next to the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, caused waterlogging and slowing down of traffic. Coastal districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg also received heavy rainfall, triggering a rise in water levels in several small rivers.  

Three killed in Gujarat
In neighbouring Gujarat, heavy rain threw life out of gear in many places and hit rail and road transport. Three people were reportedly killed in a lightning strike. South Gujarat, which received 11 inches of rain in the last 24 hours, was the worst hit. Nearly 70 families have been marooned in the floods in Navsari district with no access to safety. The NDRF team has been put on high alert.  With rail tracks at Valsad station inundated, train services in the busy Mumbai-Ahmedabad section had been hit for two hours.

Rain also affected National Highway 48 and Ahmedabad-Mumbai highway. As a precautionary measure, 30 roads have been closed for traffic. As rain lashed Saurashtra and Kutch, reports said nearly 200 families in Kutch had been marooned. The state government had put 21 out of the 203 dams on high alert.

Four people were struck by lightning in Ahmedabad, three of whom died and one is seriously injured. The city received 2 inches of rain in three hours on Tuesday morning, inundating several areas and forcing the closure of schools. “Gujarat has witnessed 41% excess rains,” Met department director Jayanta Sarkar said.