Mumbai, Thane, Palghar are likely to see light rain on Saturday, but there is no severe weather warning in place, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The weather bureau has maintained the same green alert for the rest of the weekend till Monday, July 13.
Mumbai woke to clear weather on Saturday and while light showers are likely in isolated places, widespread disruption due to heavy rain is not expected at this stage. The Mumbai local trains are functional and waters in low-lying areas have receded with road travel smooth.
For people who want to travel on the weekend, the rail connectivity on the Mumbai-Pune corridor will remain crippled till July 17, as the Central Railway has cancelled 30 long-distance and intercity trains, following landslides on the Bhor Ghat section.
Heavy, torrential downpours on July 6 triggered multiple landslides between Karjat and Lonavala stations, severely damaging all three railway lines. The landslides mainly occurred at the Thakurwadi and Monkey Hill cabins on the ghat section.
While restoration work is underway on a war footing, difficult terrain and dangerous working conditions are delaying the full resumption of normal services, officials said.
The Central Railway, in a release, said it has cancelled 30 train services, including 14 daily trains, eight services on specified dates and eight special trains.
It announced the temporary cancellation of daily trains, including the Deccan Queen, Deccan Express, Intercity Express services between Mumbai and Pune, the CSMT-Hyderabad Express, Chennai Egmore Superfast Mail and the Hubbali-Dadar Express, from July 10 to July 17.
Apart from this, trains such as the Mahalaxmi Express, Jodhpur-Hadapsar Express, Dadar-Satara Express and Dadar-Sainagar Shirdi Express have been cancelled on specified dates during the period.
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Several special trains connecting Mumbai and Pune with Gorakhpur, Ghazipur City and Hazrat Nizamuddin have also been cancelled, the release stated.
Meanwhile, state transport minister Pratap Sarnaik on Friday said Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation will operate 200 additional bus trips daily on the Mumbai-Pune route from Saturday to ease passenger inconvenience due to the train cancellations. Sarnaik said MSRTC will operate the additional services alongside its scheduled 312 e-Shivneri bus trips between Mumbai and Pune.
A release said MSRTC depots and regional offices have been directed to operate more buses, if required, depending on passenger demand, to ensure commuters do not face inconvenience.
The Mumbai-Pune route has three tracks in the difficult Bhor Ghat section or Khandala Ghat — the Up Line (towards Mumbai), the Down Line (towards Pune), and a Middle Line.
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(with PTI inputs)
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