JOIN USRain paralyses Mumbai again
The otherwise hustling-bustling life of Mumbai was badly affected on Monday as heavy downpour disrupted road and rail traffic. However, flight operations were near normal and there were no major delays at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
In the last 36 hours, parts of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) received over 300 mm rainfall.
Situation so far
A total of eight people died in the MMR comprising Mumbai and parts of neighbouring Palghar, Thane and Raigad districts because of rain-related incidents. Since Friday, more than 25 people have lost their lives across Maharashtra.
In Mumbai's Antop Hill-Wadala area, the driveway and parking lot of Lloyd's Building's C&D wings caved in because of the construction work at the neighbouring complex. Nearly 270 to 300 people live in these buildings and they had to be evacuated.
The rain put the common man to severe inconvenience. "It has been pouring heavily since Sunday. We had to go to a doctor at Kharghar and we had a tough time," said B Vijayalakshmi, a homemaker from Kopar Khairane in the satellite township of Navi Mumbai.
A resident of Vasai in the western suburbs, Shaibal Gupta said that it was difficult for him to reach his workplace at Dadar. "The trains were 45 minutes late...they were crawling," said Gupta, a space seller.
On the other hand, M P Joshi, a media practitioner, who stays in Badlapur central suburbs, said that he preferred to be at home. "Trains were late and overcrowded. Instead of spending more than six to seven hours in travel it is better to work from home," he said.
While the Central Railway trains were delayed on account of water-logging in Thane, Sion and Kurla, among other places, the Western Railway trains were delayed because of a technical snag at Bandra. While the official delay by authorities was given to be 10 to 15 minutes, the delay was much more.
There was severe water-logging in central Mumbai areas of Sion, Matunga, Kings' Circle, Hindmata, and road traffic came to a standstill. People had to wade through knee-deep water. Water also gushed into flats at the ground floor of apartments.
Road traffic between Mumbai-Gujarat and Mumbai-Goa moved at a snail's pace because of water-logging and breaches.
The road traffic along the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway was affected as there was very heavy rainfall in Palghar district, which caused swelling of the Vaitarna river. The Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, too, received heavy rainfall and water flowed over the main road. People held on to each other while crossing the road.
A major breach on Pali-Khopoli road in Raigad district affected traffic. A major traffic jam was reported from the Ghodbunder Road - that connects Mumbai to Thane, Palghar and Raigad. This road also leads to Pune and Nashik as well.
The Regional Meteorological Centre of the IMD has forecast similar weather conditions for Tuesday and Wednesday.
The entire coastal Konkan-Goa belt received heavy rainfall and fishermen have been advised against venturing into the choppy Arabian Sea.