Mumbai Rains Live: Heavy Rains Return To Mumbai; Rail, Road Traffic Hit

After a break of few days, heavy rains returned to Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Monday morning, affecting road and rail traffic and briefly disrupting operations at the city airport.

The suburban areas received around 20 mm rainfall in just three hours starting 8.30 am, an official at the India Meteorological Department in Mumbai said.

This caused water-logging on rail tracks at Ghatkopar, Kanjurmarg, Sion and other stations due to which local trains on the Central Line were running slow.

Several local trains on the Central and Western lines were also cancelled due to flooding on the tracks, railway officials said.

Office-goers who commute by local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were hit hard due to the heavy downpour in the morning rush hour.

Operations at the airport here were also suspended for around 20 minutes in the morning and three city-bound flights were diverted to some nearby airports, an official from the Mumbai International Airport Limited said.

However, no flights were cancelled.

The services were stopped at 9:12 a.m. and later resumed at 9:31 a.m., the official said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to city residents because of the heavy rainfall.

"Dear Mumbaikars, the city has experienced heavy rainfall in the last couple of hours, especially in the eastern suburbs. We regret all the inconvenience that has showered along. But the intensity is on decline now & our teams will try to pump out logged water as soon as possible," the BMC said in a tweet.

Heavy cloud formation was bringing more rains to the city, the IMD official said.

"The catchment areas of dams that supply drinking water to Mumbai are also receiving good precipitation. The city is expected to receive more rains today," he added.

The metropolis and its adjoining areas earlier received heavy rains for four consecutive days in June end- early July, badly affecting normal life and disrupting rail, road and and air traffic at that time.

After that, the city had been witnessing sporadic rains in the last few days.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation moved to install six pumping stations across the city to drain out waterlogged areas that were paralysed by the highest rainfall Mumbai received in over a decade.

The six pumping stations have already pumped out over 14,000 million litres of water—as much as the combined capacity of the city's Tulsi and Vihar lakes—and discharged it into the sea, the BMC said in a statement on Twitter.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis informed the state assembly that the city needs a total of seven pumping station and the BMC is taking “numerous efforts” for installing them swiftly.

Life in Mumbai had come to a standstill after the city received 375.2 milliliters of rainfall over a 24 hour period—the second highest in the last 44 years. The only worse instance was the July 2005 deluge where it rained over 940 mm. After the IMD warned of a high tide, the state government declared a public holiday asking schools and colleges to remain shut.

Since then though, the situation has improved. Local train services which were nearly completely shut have now been restored. The situation at waterlogged areas too has improved reportedly.

The Mumbai Airport hasn’t been so lucky though. Air travel will remain affected since the main runway is likely to be closed till Thursday. A SpiceJet flight from Jaipur carrying 167 passengers and crew overshot the runway after landing amid heavy rains. The aircraft is stuck partially on the runway and the nearby grass area. Officials told PTI that they have started work to remove the stuck plane, but it will take two days for the work to be completed.

As many as 52 flights were cancelled and another 55 diverted, including 29 domestic and 26 international ones, till about 10 am due to “inclement” weather and runway closure since Monday late evening, a Mumbai Airport official said.

Early in the morning, eighteen people were killed and over 50 injured in a wall collapse in the northern suburb of Malad after heavy rains. Fadnavis has announced financial assistance for the victims of Rs 5 lakh each from the state government and the asked the BMC to match that. “A high level enquiry will be initiated into the unfortunate event,” he said in the assembly.

Another six people died in Pune, while three died in Kalyan. The government will also give assistance to them, Fadnavis assured.

Regular services from CSMT to Thane/Mankhurd UP and DN resumes

Rest all services are running since morning@drmmumbaicr @mybmc @m_indicator @RidlrMUM @mumbairailusers @mumbai_locals @SlowLocal

— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) July 2, 2019

Five persons died in rain-related incidents and three were rescued from a submerged car in Thane and adjoining Palghar as heavy rains Tuesday in the region threw normal life out of gear.

In a wall collapse in an Urdu school near Durgai Fort in Kalyan in the district, three people, including a toddler, were killed.

"At around 1:30 a.m., the protection wall of the school fell on hutments beside. The dead have been identified as Sogan Kamble (60), Karina Chand (32) and three-year-old Bhushan Chand. One person has been injured," a Thane Disaster Management Cell official said.

In another incident which took place around the same time, a car with three occupants fell into the Chenna Creek between Thane and Bhayander.

Fire brigade personnel from Balkum rushed to the site and managed to rescue the persons from the submerged car, Thane Regional Disaster Management Cell chief Santosh Kadam said, adding that the car continued to remain stuck in the creek.

Around 50 people were shifted to higher ground in the city's Bhaskar Colony area after water gushed into their homes in the early hours of the day, an official said.

Two people were swept away in the rains in Jawhar area and Dahanu, he said.

Since Sunday, heavy rains has caused Surya, Vaitarna and Pinjal rivers in the region to swell, leaving several residential clusters alongside in danger of getting submerged.

Source: PTI

#MumbaiRainsLiveUpdates: #Hightide alert at 11.52 am. Stay safe #Mumbai. #MumbaiRainlive #MumbaiRainsLive

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 2, 2019

Mumbai International Airport Limited (MIAL) spokesperson: Main runway at the airport is closed but alternative runway is functional. Delays and diversions of flights are taking place. #MumbaiRains

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2019

02/07 /19. 09.15 hrs. WR suburban services are running without disruption between Churchgate - Vasai Rd & with a frequency of 20-25 mins bet Vasai Rd & Virar. Trains may be run with some delay due to low visibility & safety. @drmbct @RailMinIndia @PiyushGoyalOffc #WRUpdates

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) July 2, 2019

The Maharashtra government on Tuesday said that only emergency services will remain functional in Mumbai due to the incessant rains that has affected the road traffic and railways in the city.

Authorities have also advised people to avoid stepping out of their homes as the Indian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains.

“The heavy rainfall has submerged the roads and rail tracks. Based on further inputs from other agencies, we have taken the decision to keep emergency services operational. We have appealed to the people not to venture out in this situation,” Brijesh Singh, the official spokesperson of the state government, said.

Several parts of Mumbai received around 100 mm rainfall since Monday morning, affecting trains and the road traffic.

With inputs from PTI

The following Trains have been short terminated due to water logging on tracks at Nallasopara /Palghar.
1)59038- Surat - Virar of 02/07/2019 is short terminated at Dahanu Road.
2)59440- Ahmedabad - Mumbai Central of 01/07/2019 is short terminated at Vapi. @drmbct @drmadiwr

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) July 1, 2019

#6ETravelAdvisory: To check flight status, please visit https://t.co/Mj1tYZIvoE or send an SMS ST <flight no.><flight date> as DDMM, e.g. for flight 6E-333 for July 02, send ST 333 0207 to 566772. pic.twitter.com/KkzcTmbf32

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) July 1, 2019

Due to heavy rain forecast in Mumbai even today by IMD, People are advised to stay indoors unless there is any emergency.#MumbaiRainsLive #MumbaiRainsLiveUpdates #MumbaiRains

— CMO Maharashtra (@CMOMaharashtra) July 2, 2019

#Santacruz #Mumbai recorded one of the heaviest #downpour with 375 mm of #rain in last 21 hours. #MumbaiRainlive #MumbaiRains @SkymetWeather

— Mahesh Palawat (@Mpalawat) July 2, 2019

Mumbai: 12 dead and 13 injured after a wall collapsed on hutments in Pimpripada area of Malad East due to heavy rainfall. Many feared trapped under the debris. NDRF team present at the spot; rescue operations underway. #Maharashtra pic.twitter.com/aYTp4mBFpP

— ANI (@ANI) July 2, 2019

With unstoppable rains over Dahanu, Maharashtra, the city has recorded the "extremely heavy" rains to the tune of 299 millimeter in the span of just 24 hours. This makes it the rainiest place in the country over the last day.

"Moreover, more heavy showers are coming up for the city and we expect Dahanu will surpass its daunting monthly rainfall target in the next three days," the weather agency said in a statement on its website.

The city is close to a three-hour drive from Mumbai.

Weather Forecasting & Warning based on 0830 IST dated 01.07.2019 pic.twitter.com/UVQTqjAVRx

— India Met. Dept. (@Indiametdept) July 1, 2019

#RainDost is an initiative to bring together the #HeroesOfMumbai who have always volunteered to help the city in time of crisis. We hope to enable the #RainHosts help those in need better, by aligning them to concerned wards #MumbaiRainsLive

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) July 1, 2019

#WRUpdates. Passengers may kindly note further rescheduling / short termination & change in departing/originating station of trains due to heavy water logging on tracks at Palghar in morning hours. pic.twitter.com/5WBiuK2K06

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) July 1, 2019

#MumbaiRainsLive: Check out the #rainfall amounts between 12:00 am to 12:00 pm today recorded by Skymet's AWS. #MumbaiRains pic.twitter.com/xb0vKxaWY5

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 1, 2019

The vehicular movement from suburbs towards south Mumbai and the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where several corporate houses and private companies are located, was slow due to the incessant showers.

There was waterlogging at several pockets in the suburbs, due to which trains were running slow on the Central line as well, another official said.

In view of the heavy rains in Palghar district of Maharashtra and a rail track suffering damage near Lonavala hill station in Pune, 17 long-distance trains of the Western Railway and more than 10 of the Central Railway were cancelled in the morning, the official said.

Due to submergence of rail tracks at a few places in Palghar, some trains were also short-terminated, a WR official said.

A goods train derailed in the early hours of Monday in the Western Ghat section between Karjat and Lonavala, affecting the movement of several long-distance trains going towards Pune and western Maharashtra, a CR official said.

Some trains were also short-terminated and others diverted via Kalyan-Igatpuri-Manmad section. The shuttle train services between Mumbai and Pune were also affected, the official said.

Thousands of state government employees and private staff were not able to go to work, a government official said.

A citizen who uses the Western Express Highway regularly said a number of potholes on the road posed problems for commuters, adding that it exposed the poor quality of repair works done by the civic body.

With inputs from PTI

#WRUpdates Slow lines at Marine Lines Station has been restored completely at 11.02 hrs after removing the construction material from the OHE. Now all four lines are working between Churchgate-Mumbai Central stations. @drmbct @RailMinIndia

— Western Railway (@WesternRly) July 1, 2019

In the last 3 hours, #SantaCruz has recorded 12 mm of #rainfall between 8.30 am and 11.30 am. #MumbaiRainsLive #MumbaiRains #Mumbai

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 1, 2019

#WATCH Maharashtra: Waterlogged streets in Bhiwandi area of Thane after heavy rains lashed the region. pic.twitter.com/gBnxXitRiV

— ANI (@ANI) July 1, 2019

#MumbaiRains Nowcast: Intermittent moderate to heavy rain and showers with gusty winds will prevail over #Mumbai, Mumbai Suburban, #Palghar and #Thane between 1200 to 1600 hours. #MumbaiRainsLive #MumbaiRain

— SkymetWeather (@SkymetWeather) July 1, 2019