Heavy rains, strong winds lash Mumbai, low-lying areas inundated

The local trains and bus services of the BEST were running with a delay of 5 to 15 minutes

Heavy rainfall coupled with strong winds lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Tuesday morning, leading to inundation in some low-lying areas, civic officials said.

The local trains, considered as the lifeline of Mumbai, and bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were running with a delay of 5 to 15 minutes, they said.

According to civic officials, the city could face water-logging if it rains heavily in the morning hours as there will be a high tide of 4.03 meters at 9.54 am.

On Monday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) had issued an 'orange' alert for Mumbai, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places. The city started witnessing heavy rains from Monday midnight, and the intensity increased early Tuesday morning with strong winds, according to some citizens.

Some low-lying areas like the Andheri subway were submerged, forcing authorities to divert the traffic through alternate routes, civic officials said.

The city recorded 51.35 mm rain in the 24-hour period till 8 am on Tuesday.

The eastern and western suburbs received 76.18 mm and 97.11 mm rainfall respectively during the same period. The MeT office has forecast moderate to heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs with a possibility of very heavy to extremely showers at isolated places in the next 24 hours.