Mumbai reeling under heavy rain yet again

Mumbai: Mumbai and the coastal Konkan region continued to experience heavy rains on Sunday with the Central Railway services hit on various sectors and boats were deployed to rescue around 400 people stranded in the Kurla suburb, officials said here.

Following incessant overnight rains, water seeped into many homes in Kranti Nagar area of Kurla, following which the BMC deployed rubber boats to rescue around 400 stranded residents.

Amidst the heavy downpour which continued to pound the city and its neighbouring areas, a 16-year-old boy was feared drowned after he was swept away in the flood in Vikaramgadh taluka of Palghar on Saturday, a district official said, adding that a search was on to trace him.

In Church Road-Dahanukarwadi areas of Kandivali, some locals made temporary rafts of wooden board to ferry people to nearby areas for replenishing stocks of essentials.

Around 35 people of the tiny Ju village in Thane have been stranded due to rising flood waters and the state government has requested an air rescue operation for them.

They have been temporarily shifted to Bazarwad Municipal School and arrangements made to give them food, water and medical help as required, said the BMC Disaster Control.

In some villages in Pen, Raigad district, around 60 people were stuck in five-six feet deep water since 4am on Sunday, and the authorities have deployed NDRF teams to rescue them.

The downpour, which revived with full intensity since Friday night, continued Sunday with many areas of Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri remaining submerged, hitting normal life and road traffic.

Barring delays, the Western Railway services continued, but CR services were hit in some sectors like Kurla-Sion due to waterlogging on tracks, breaches in railway lines, landslides on outstation routes. Its suburban Harbour Line was also paralysed.

Mumbai is likely experience a 4.86 metres high tide at 2:29pm on Sunday, with the IMD and BMC Disaster Control warning people to keep away from coastal areas and beaches in the city.

The BMC, Indian Army, Navy and Air Force, besides all other agencies, are on a high alert for any eventuality.

A portion of a bridge on Pinjal river in Palghar was washed away, bringing traffic to a complete halt on both sides.

For the second consecutive day, waterlooging was reported in many areas of Nala Sopara, Vasai, Virar, Vikramgad (Palghar district), Mira Road, Bhayander, Thane City, Bhiwandi, Kalyan, Titwala, Ulhasnagar (Thane), Roha, Pali, Mangaon, Karjat, Pen, Panvel (Raigad), and Mandangad, Chiplun, Dapoli (Ratnagiri).

In Mumbai, several vulnerable spots in Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri, Santacruz, Khar, Bandra, Matunga, Parel, Dadar, Kings Circle, Sion, Vikhroli, Ghatkopar,Kurla, Bhandup, Mulund and other parts were flooded.

Subways in Kandivali, Malad, and Andheri were flooded hampering traffic movement in the east-west directions.

However, most flights were operating at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with delays of around 30 minutes, said officials.

Till Sunday morning, the IMD said Mumbai city recorded 142 mm rains and the suburbs notched 204 mm.

The BMC's rain monitors pegged the figure at 116 mm for Mumbai city, 195 mm for the eastern-western suburbs.

The BMC Disaster Control have asked people to keep away from all seafronts for the next two days as extremely heavy rains are forecast.

According to the city civic body, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast intermittent rain with heavy to very heavy showers in the city and suburbs and extremely heavy rain at isolated places in next 24 hours.

The city, its neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts and Navi Mumbai town were witnessing incessant rains since last two days and a number of incidents of tree fall were reported from there, an official said.

In the last 24 hours, the city received 100 mm rain while the suburbs, Thane and Navi Mumbai got more than 250 mm downpour, IMD's deputy director K S Hosalikar said.

Being a Sunday, most of the office-goers were spared of hardships caused by the suspension of local train services on various routes.

Train services affected

Due to the accumulation of water on tracks at a few sections following heavy and continuous rains, the Central Railway's services on the Main Line and Harbour Line between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (in Mumbai) and Karjat, Kasaraand Khopoli were suspended since 8 am, its chief spokesman Sunil Udasi said.

"This has been done as a precautionary measure to avoid hardships to commuters later...the situation will be reviewed every hour," he said.

However, the train services on Trans-Harbour Line and fourth corridor of Kharkopar was running normally, he said.

Due to water-logging and crashing of boulders between Karjat (located in neighbouring Raigad district) and Lonavala hill town (in Pune district) in the Western Ghats section, several Mumbai-bound trains were terminated, diverted or cancelled, an official at the CR control room said.

The rail route from Pune to Mumbai was also closed, he added.

Besides local trains, some long distance trains like Duranto, Konark Express, Amritsar Express and Devgiri Express were stuck near Igatpuri (in Nashik district), and Aatgaon and Khardi near Kalyan, another Central Railway official said.

A Mumbai airport spokesperson said two incoming flights were diverted and six had to make a go around due to the heavy rains.

In Palghar, heavy rains led to water levels rising over tracks in some sections, leading to suspension of train services between Vasai and Virar towns, a Western Railway official said.

All Mail and Express trains were stopped on the Western line due to flooding on tracks near Nalasopara, he said.

However, trains were moving on the Vasai-Churchgate and Virar-Dadar sections, he added.

(With inputs from IANS & PTI)