Heavy rains cripple life in Mumbai
HIGHEST RAINFALL The Colaba observatory in south Mumbai recorded 170.6mm rainfall in the last 24 hours MUMBAI:
It was déjà vu for Mumbai on Monday. Six days after a torrential downpour led to the fall of a key pedestrian bridge in suburban Mumbai which, in turn, resulted in the suspension of three-quarters of western railway’s suburban services and created traffic havoc, India’s financial capital and its surrounding districts were in for another rude shock on Monday following another round of intense rainfall that crippled the city’s transportation operations and left lakhs stranded.
City authorities recorded 15 waterlogged areas, 11 wall collapses, 23 tree-fall incidents, 32 electrical short-circuits, in addition to the cancellation of several suburban train services. No casualty was recorded. On average, trains on the three major lines in the city were delayed by up to 30 minutes after normal services resumed at 4 pm, but by then, most office-goers and students had decided to stay at home. The state education minister Vinod Tawade declared a holiday for educational institutions via a tweet posted at 11.33 am. The state government declared a half-day for its employees, and allowed personnel to return home in the postlunch session.
Mumbai’s airports, too, bore the brunt of the heavy rain. Juhu Aerodrome had to be shut due to bad weather and waterlogging on the runway. All offshore operations and chartered flights were cancelled, and a notice to airmen was issued at 3 pm. Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (both domestic and international terminals) faced a delay of around 30 minutes. Some airlines announced a waiver for passengers who could not reach on time and assured them of seats the next day.
“We expect heavy to very heavy rain with isolated extremely heavy spells over Mumbai and surrounding areas till Wednesday,” he said. Dr Kumar said rain warnings have been issued to state and city administrations, including Mumbai’s transport agencies.
Sunday’s and Monday’s rainfall took the season’s rainfall total for Mumbai to 1438.8mm. Over the four monsoon months of June to September, Mumbai receives an average of 2260mm of rain. Its annual average is 2373mm. Significantly, south Mumbai and the suburbs have respectively recorded 47% and 74% excess rain this year, according to the IMD.