Torrential rains in 14 years bring city to a standstill

THE HEAVIEST downpour since

2005 inundated Mumbai this week, delaying trains and planes and spurring the city administration to declare a holiday.

Flights to Mumbai were delayed, diverted or cancelled after a Spicejet Boeing Co 737 aircraft overshot the runway amid heavy rains.

Precipitation on Tuesday was the second-heaviest on record, said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general at the India Meteorological Department’s Mumbai centre.

“It is very unsafe to go out,” Mahesh Palawat, a vice president of meteorology and climate change at weather forecaster Skymet, said in a Twitter post. “Nothing is more important than your safety.”

At least 27 people were killed in the Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, due to rainrelated disasters. About 1 000 people were evacuated from an area in Mumbai as a river started to overflow, the city council’s monsoon helpline said on Twitter.

Disruptions due to rains, which also affected train services, are a regular occurrence in Mumbai, as authorities grapple with crumbling infrastructure. Mumbai’s Santacruz