Torrential rain washes out Mumbai for second week
Mumbai: For the second consecutive week, heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri hitting normal life and road traffic, though suburban trains and flights continued to function with some delays, officials said here on Saturday.
Mumbai, which has been experiencing virtually incessant rain since 10 days, witnessed heavy downpour since midnight, with many lowlying areas in the city and suburbs, subways and arterial roads submerged under three-four feet of water, severely disrupting traffic.
Waterlogging was reported in many areas in Nala Sopara, Vasai (Palghar district), parts of Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane City in (Thane), Roha, Panvel (Raigad), Mangaon and Mandangad (Ratnagiri).
In Mumbai, several areas in Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra, Matunga, Parel, Dadar, Kings Circle, Sion, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar, AKurla, Bhandup, Mulund and other parts were flooded resulting in huge traffic snarls.
Subways in Dahisar, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Santacruz were flooded stopping traffic movement in the east-west directions, and many vehicles and two-wheelers were stranded in the flood waters.
Suburban trains on both the Western Railway and Central Railway were running at reduced speeds leading to delays of 20-30 minutes owing to waterlogging on the tracks in the suburbs.
However, most flights were operating at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with delays of around 30 minutes, according to officials.
In view of the continuing downpour, some schools and colleges in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri have declared a precautionary holiday to avoid inconveniencing students.
The BMC Disaster Control has warned people not to venture near the beaches as a very high tide of 4.90 metres will occur at 1.44 p.m.
In the past 24 hours, Mumbai city recorded 53.6 mm rain, while Mumbai suburbs notched 133.1 mm rain and the IMD has forecast heavy rain for the metropolis and coastal district for the next 72 hours.