Mumbai rain fury kills 5 in 24 hrs 5 die in lightning, one drowns as rain lashes Bengal
MONSOON WOES Wall collapse crushes six vehicles, several areas see traffic snarls due to waterlogging as IMD warns of similar conditions over coming days
MUMBAI: Two teenagers and a 10-year-old were killed and a woman was seriously injured in Mumbai and neighbouring areas in rain-related incidents, after a downpour between Sunday night and Monday afternoon brought along with it the usual woes.
Water-logging at several locations across the city slowed down traffic, while the downpour delayed trains and flights. At Wadala, a wall collapsed into an adjoining under-construction site, crushing six cars and forcing residents of 240 apartments to vacate their flats as a precautionary measure.
Mumbai received its third highest one-day rain in June in 44 years, making it the wettest day and surpassing the average rainfall for the month.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between 8.30am on Sunday and 8.30am on Monday, 231.4mm rain was recorded at the Santacruz weather station (representative of Mumbai) and 99mm at Colaba. The highest one-day rainfall is 399mm on June 10, 1991, followed by 283.4mm on June 19, 2015. Between 8.30am and 8.30pm on Monday, the weather stations at Santacruz and Colaba recorded a further 48.3mm and 43mm rain, respectively.
Since June 1, the Santacruz weather station has received 686.9mm rain, crossing June’s average rainfall of 523mm.
The weather bureau has predicted intermittent showers on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 15-year-old Kiran Ghaywat died on Monday after a portion of the boundary wall of a sewage treatment plant (STP) in Ulhasnagar fell on his house at 1.30am. There were two cases of drowning in nullahs reported. While 10-year-old Vijay Pawar drowned in an overflowing nullah at Samrat Ashok Nagar in Kalwa, 18-year-old Nagendra Nagarjun fell into a nullah at Evershine Nagar in Malad. In Andheri, a part of a balcony of Jadhav Chawl collapsed on Rajkumari Gaud, 37, who was seriously injured.
COMMUTING TROUBLE
Commuters faced inconveniences as the lifeline of the city, the suburban local train, slowed down due to waterlogging in different areas. Private cab aggregators along with autorickshaws and black and yellow taxis charged exorbitant fares from commuters.
A total of 100 local train services were delayed and 30 services were cancelled on Monday on the Western Railway (WR). WR services were also affected during the morning peak hours on Monday due to a technical snag at Bandra railway station. Trains were operating with a delay of 20 minutes. Waterlogging near Virar railway station also delayed the operations of local trains. KOLKATA: Five persons were killed in lightning strikes and one drowned after heavy monsoon rains and thunderstorms lashed West Bengal Monday, a state disaster management official said.
A seven-year-old boy was killed in Purulia district’s Bhomragora village and two others were killed in Rajendrapur of Basirhat II block and Keutepara in North 24 Parganas district due to lightning strikes, he said.
A woman from Basanti block of Charpara village, and a man from Namkhana block of Uttar Chandanpiri village in South 24 Parganas were also killed in lightning strikes, the official said.
An 18-year-old person drowned in Sutunga river in Mekhliganj in Cooch Behar district during the rains, he added.
Kolkata and its neighbouring districts of Howrah, Nadia, North and South 24 Parganas were lashed by torrential rains that affected life on Monday. The weatherman has predicted more rains in the next 48 hours.
Heavy rains affected train services in the state. “Drivers had to slow down trains at some places. Since the rains were scattered and not uniform everywhere, the trains slowed down to different degrees in different areas,” the spokesperson of South Eastern Railway said on Monday.