Sunday, August 4, 2019

Heavy rain brings Mumbai to its knees, again

Commuters were the worst-hit as rail, road and air travel came to a halt

04/08/2019, SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT, ,MUMBAI


In line: Aircraft waiting in queue for taking off at the Mumbai airport on Saturday. Heavy rain lashed Mumbai, Thane and Palghar districts on Saturday.Vijay BateVijay Bate

Incessant rain that lashed the city since Friday night threw life out of gear again. Commuters on the central railway line were the worst affected, while other forms of commute, too, witnessed disruptions.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) recorded 52.2 mm rainfall at the Colaba observatory and 83.8 mm at the Santacruz observatory till 8.30 p.m. on Saturday. The city witnessed 35.67 mm rainfall, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 64.88 mm and 68.20 mm rainfall respectively. The Corporation declared a holiday for all public and private schools in light of the rain.

The Mithi swelled in size, crossing the “danger mark” of 3 m and going up to 3.3 m on Saturday afternoon. The authorities evacuated hundreds of people from the Kranti Nagar area in Kurla as a precautionary measure.

The rains had a direct effect on commuters with rail, road and air travel being affected. A spokesperson for the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said delays of up to 38 minutes in arriving flights and up to 49 minutes for departures were observed on Saturday, but no flights were cancelled.

Civic officials said the Mithi crossing the danger mark, combined with the high tide of 4.9 m, resulted in severe waterlogging on the tracks between the Kurla and Sion stations.

Trains suspended

Train services were completely suspended from 1.55 p.m. to 5.30 p.m., after which trains were run up to Kurla and from Dadar to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus, before services could limp back to normal. Several trains stopped midway and commuters, after waiting for over two hours, started jumping off the trains and walking on the tracks till they reached the nearest railway station.

The Western line did not witness much delays. However, on the Harbour line, a part of the footover bridge between Chembur and Govandi stations collapsed on the overhead wires, resulting in services being suspended till 6.32 p.m.

Water logging was recorded in Sion, Wadala, Chembur, Vidyavihar and Ghatkopar in the central and eastern suburbs, and in the Andheri subway, Milan subway, Meghwadi, National College, Bandra, Akriti Mall, Andheri, and Reliance Junction in Borivali in the western suburbs.

Traffic at King’s Circle, Antop Hill, Hindmata junction, Samajmandir Hall, Pratiksha Nagar, Vihar lake, Sheetal Cinema, Kurla, Oberoi junction, Malad and several other areas had to be rerouted.

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