Heavy rains lash Mumbai, disrupt rail, air traffic
The heavy rains which lashed the city since Tuesday afternoon caused major delays in local train services on all three lines. The local train services on all three lines were running late by at least 20 minutes.
On Tuesday, the local train services on the Harbour line were delayed as a tree fell on the overhead wire between Andheri and Vile Parle.
Due to this, the local train services were operational only till Bandra station. “The electric supply on the over head wire was cut off between Santacruz and Vile Parle stations. It took at least 45 minutes to remove the branches of the trees. No trains were cancelled on the western line," said a western railway official.
The local train services on the Central line were delayed for over 20 minutes. Many commuters preferred to travel by Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) buses as there were no trains at Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT).
“I waited for over 20 minutes at CSMT to go to Thane. The indicators did not show any schedule of trains. I hence took a BEST bus to Thane,” said Sabrina Ali, a commuter at CSMT station.
The flight operations were completely suspended between 6:50pm and 7:10pm at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) as the visibility dropped to 400 metres due to heavy rains in Mumbai on Tuesday, said an official from Airports Authority of India.
"Seven flights have been diverted to other airports Shamshabad, Vadodara and Ahmadabad," said AAI official. Later the Spokesperson of Mumbai International Airport Private Ltd (MIAL) said, "The visibility and RVR 1500 mts. Operations continue. There have been 3 diversions and 7 go arounds as of now."
An MIAL spokesperson said: “Latest visibility is 700 mts and RVR 800 mts. Flt ops continues with delays. Totally,04 diversions and 10 go arounds. Coaches deployed for airside transfer of passengers from Terminal 1 to Terminal 2. Seating arrangement and discounted rates for food from TFS arranged for stranded passengers at Terminal 1.”