Traffic snarls, flight delays as Rain creates havoc in Mumbai

Incessant rains in the maximum city have caused severe waterlogging in low-lying areas and has resulted in traffic snarls. Local trains plying on Western Railways have also been canceled due to the rains.

The Met department has predicted that the next 48 hours of the rains would be a bad period and has advised people not to leave their homes unless absolutely necessary. Multiple flights are also being delayed by several minutes, due to the rains.

Taking into consideration the heavy rainfall warning of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said it was ready to tackle “any eventuality”.

The continuous showers caused waterlogging in Sion, Dadar, Mumbai Central, Kurla, Andheri, Sakinaka areas, which ultimately resulted in slowing down of the traffic, although no major traffic jam was reported.

“From 8 am to 3 pm on Tuesday, three of BMC-run weather stations in the city recorded heavy and incessant rains. The weather station in Mumbai city recorded 30.92 mm rain, while those in eastern and western suburbs recorded 15.56 mm and 12.42 mm rainfall respectively during that period,” a statement issued by civic body said.

“Despite heavy rains, no untoward incident was reported and suburban services of the Central Railway, Western Railway, and the Harbour line were normal. The BEST buses were also running smoothly,” it added.

There was 3.50-meter high tide on Monday at 4:09 pm in the evening.

“Long spells of heavy rains in the last few days led to the increase in the water stock in the city’s four reservoirs. They can overflow very soon and this is a good news for the city,” a BMC official said.

Referring to IMD’s forecast for the next 24 hours, the statement said that heavy to very heavy rain is predicted for the next 24 hours in Mumbai city and suburbs.

“Considering the heavy rainfall warning, our machinery is ready to tackle any eventuality,” an official attached to the disaster management cell of the BMC said.

According to the official, four minor incidents of tree branches falling, five cases of short-circuiting and three cases of portions of houses collapsing were reported.

“A man named Dinanath Yadav (50) received injuries while he was carrying out some home repair work in suburban Juhu when a portion of slab fell on him,” he said.