RAIN CRIPPLES LIFE IN MUMBAI
People stranded during heavy rain at a waterlogged street near Dadar in Mumbai on Tuesday. Heavy monsoon rain brought India’s financial capital to a halt, flooding rail tracks and hospitals and causing flight diversions and delays.
mumbai — Heavy monsoon rains brought India’s financial capital Mumbai to a grinding halt on Tuesday, with authorities struggling to evacuate people before a high tide was expected to add to the chaos.
Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of the state for the fourth consecutive day, severely affecting normal life and paralysing the lifelines — local train and bus services — in the state capital.
Incessant rain flooded low-lying areas of Mumbai and paralysed train services used by hundreds of thousands of commuters daily, with many stranded at stations. Poor visibility has forced airport authorities to divert some flights.
Thousands waded through waist-deep water to reach home after the mega city received heavy rainfall. Children were sent home early from school.
Weather officials are predicting more heavy rains over the next 24 hours and have urged people to stay indoors. A high tide is expected to hit the city later on Tuesday.
“The heavy rains, flooding, are delaying our rescue work. Even we are stranded,” said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police.
The Maharashtra government and civic authorities sounded high alert on Tuesday as The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that in one hour, Mumbai recorded a staggering 70 mm rainfall, while it touched 100 mm between 8.30am and 1pm.
The state government has requisitioned the services of five disaster management teams, including three from Pune, to tackle any eventuality in Mumbai. The BMC has appealed to people not to step out of their home unless absolutely necessary, while the entire civic force — Mumbai Police, Fire Brigade and other agencies — were on high alert to combat the situation.
Since Tuesday morning, many parts of Mumbai and suburbs were inundated with up to three to four feet of water on the highways, main and arterial roads, bylanes, housing complexes, railway stations and even the Mumbai Airport.
However, barring incidents of scores of trees and half a dozen walls collapsing in different parts of the city, flooding and waterlogging, there has been no report of any casualty so far. The torrential rains are also likely to hit the immersion ceremonies on the fifth day of the Ganeshotsav on Tuesday.
The suburban local trains were massively hit with disruption in services as the rail tracks were flooded at several places on the Central Railway mainline, Harbour Line, Western Railway and Konkan Railway.
Millions of commuters including students, were stranded in trains, railway stations or at bus stops. Many failed to reach their destinations and were compelled to return to their homes. Waterlogging has been reported from Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Bandra, Matunga, Dadar, Elphinstone, Mumbai Central, Mazagaon, Lalbaug, Parel, Sion, Wadala, Bhandup and other areas.
Rainwater flooded the King Edward Memorial Hospital in central Mumbai, forcing doctors to vacate the paediatric ward.
“We are worried about infections... the rain water is circulating rubbish that is now entering parts of the emergency ward,” said Ashutosh Desai, a doctor in the hospital. As the meteorological department warned that the Mumbai rains would continue for the next 24 hours many offices sent staff home early, fearing a repeat of 2005 floods that killed more than 1,000 people.
“I haven’t been able to travel and had to cancel all my plans,” said researcher Rajesh Prabhakar, who was stranded on the outskirts of the city after flooding forced the cancellation of rail services.
Many of my friends are stranded at railway stations... this is a reminder of the 2005 floods Rajesh Prabhakar, Researcher