Mumbai came to a standstill on Friday as constant, heavy rainfall ensued several complications, bringing the movement in the city to hold. By morning, water began to log into several parts of the city, disrupting the normal routine of Mumbaikars. The rain water submerged the tracks and trains were left stranded, while the vehicular movement in the city also suffered complications as several roads went under the water.
Initially, trains plied slowly, however, they were later cancelled as railway tracks went completely under water, at many places, making the movement all the more difficult. Water logging was reported in Bandra, Lower Parel, Matunga, Elphinston Road and Santacruz. As a result the train services were suspended. On the western route, however, trains were plying between Andheri And Borivali. On the central and harbor line too, trains were suspended, following a heavy downpour.
Miserable traffic was reported on Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway. Water logging was reported in several places of the city. Taxis, busses and other vehicles were stranded as the water level was only increasing, further escalating the problems. Airways also suffered as a result of the rains, with several flights getting cancelled and confusion ensuing shortly after a while.
An official spokesperson of the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) stated that the expected rainfall might range from “heavy to very heavy”, for the next 48 hours.
“Rainfall is expected for the next two days, intermediate sometime heavy” said V K Rajeev Director of IMD. According to IMD report, rain shower, on Thursday, was reported to be 41.7 mm in Colaba, while that in Santacruz was 17.6mm. Cases of water logging have been reported on Yari Road, Versova, Andheri West, Santacruz, Bandra, Mahim areas.
The Maharashtra government has advised people to not move out of their houses until something is extremely essential. While most chose to stay indoors, others who had left were stranded at various locations for quite a long time. BMC officials took it to the streets to clear the clogs and fix the issues of nullahs, which were leading to water logging. The heavy downpour saw around 20 trees being uprooted in areas like Colaba, Byculla, Mahim, Ghatkopar, Kandivali and Borivali.
High tide has been announced at 2:30pm and a high alert has been issued in the city. The waves were expected to rise to 4.47 meters at the time of high tide.
Reported by Suyash Karangutkar and Alpona Dutta
Tags: Mumbai floods
