Mumbai rain updates: 4 killed; local trains, buses back on track | 10 points

Mumbai rain updates: A 45-year-old woman drowned in a nullah overflowing due to heavy rain in suburban Andheri on Wednesday.

At least four persons died as torrential rains battered Mumbai, leading to floods and bringing India’s financial capital to a standstill. The downpour also prompted the closure of schools on Thursday, September 26.

Some parts of Mumbai recorded around 275 mm (11 inches) of rain on Wednesday evening, which crippled road traffic and delayed the Mumbai local trains millions of residents use every day.

However, the Central Railways said the local train services were restored in Andheri station on Thursday morning as the water has receded following a night of downpour across Maharashtra’s Mumbai resulting in severe waterlogging.

Officials told news agency Reuters that four people died from rain-related incidents.

Latest updates on Mumbai torrential rains:

1. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai warning of heavy rainfall. The city administration has declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in Mumbai following the IMD forecast. The Pune district administration has also declared a holiday for schools and colleges due to heavy rain.
2. In a statement issued by the Central Railways, it said, “All local trains are running normally. On the main line, 3-4 minutes behind schedule because of rescheduled mail express movements and few cautions, Rest all normal.”
3. The Central Railways earlier said harbour line local trains resumed after the water receded between Govandi and Mankhurd. “Trains are running with caution and a restricted speed of 25 kmph. Services resumed at 11.23 pm,” it added.
4. It has also issued an advisory to commuters in the wake of waterlogged tracks, appealing to avoid stepping onto the tracks and stay inside the trains. This came after several commuters were seen walking on the tracks at Chunabhatti Railway Station.
5. Apart from Andheri, several parts of Mumbai, including Kurla East, Nehru Nagar, and Chembur, experienced waterlogging and traffic disruptions due to torrential rains. Kurla Bridge witnessed heavy traffic snarls on Wednesday night.
6. Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking also hit the roads since early morning.
7. As many as 14 incoming flights at the Mumbai Airport were diverted to different airports on Wednesday due to heavy rains, an airport official said here. Of these, nine flights were of IndiGo alone which were not given clearance to land in the city due to the inclement weather.
8. Heavy rain triggered a landslide at the Mumbra bypass around 11.30pm on Wednesday.
9. A 45-year-old woman drowned in a nullah overflowing due to heavy rains in suburban Andheri on Wednesday, police said.
10. As per BMC data, the island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs received 87.79 mm, 167.48 mm, and 95.57 mm rainfall between 5pm and 10pm.                                                                                                                                                                                                                            Heavy rain continued to several parts of Mumbai city and suburbs, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for heavy rainfall in Mumbai and Thane. Mumbai.Municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani was at the BMC headquarters, monitoring the situation from the disaster control room with the additional municipal commissioners.

    Between 6 pm and 9 pm, Fort lodged 87 mm of rain, with Marine Lines and Ghatkopar following with 70 mm. Airoli, Vashi, Khairna and Ghansoli too recorded downpours of over 80 mm. Over 60 mm was recorded at Colaba, Memonwada, Chembur and Kopri.

    Traffic and waterlogging

    Several feet of water lay collected at many spots such as outside Vikhroli Station, Chembur, Bhandup, Hindmata, Parel TT, S V Road at Jogeshwari West, the exit of the Coastal Road and Bhulabhai Desai Road. Commuters faced over five hours delay in reaching their destinations owing to waterlogging-caused traffic snarls reported throughout the city, particularly on the Western and Eastern Express highways.

    “Over 2000 traffic personnel have been posted on the roads across the city to ease traffic movement,” said a traffic police officer.

    Cabs and autos

    Auto rickshaws and taxis were unavailable outside multiple railway stations across Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region, putting commuters at immense inconvenience. On the cab aggregating apps, services were not only difficult to get but the surge pricing reached up to 80% to 100%.

    BEST buses

    At least 45 BEST buses were either diverted or curtailed on routes covering Chembur Naka, Chembur, S G Barve Marg, Malad Station, Nehru Nagar in Kurla, the Bhandup section of LBS Road, Shell Colony, V N Purav Marg, Sion, LBS Road at Kurla, Gol Deval and Bhendi Bazaar.

    Rail services

    On the Central Railway main line, suburban trains from CSMT towards Thane were running late by up to 20 minutes at 8.15pm. In the opposite direction, there was bunching of trains between Thane and Kurla, as they had come to a halt stranding thousands of passengers. Rail lines were under water at several places.

    At around 8.45 pm to 9 pm, several trains on WR got cancelled. Track-related works between Goregaon and Kandivali had put restrictions on train speed and heavy rains further added to commuting woes.

    Flights

    At Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, up to 8.09 pm, seven flights made a go-around. Until 9.56 pm, 14 inbound flights were diverted to Ahmedabad, Hyderabad, Goa and Udaipur. There were many more incoming flights that were delayed, resulting in a cascading effect on the departures. All airlines put out alerts through different modes of communication asking their passengers to check for their flight’s status and also to start early for the airport.