Mumbai rains: Apocalyptic rain holds city ransom, political mud-slinging ensues

Rain-hit suburban train services in Mumbai are slowly limping back to normalcy with the first train chugging out of the Churchgate station around midnight. Traffic on the Western Railway suburban network had come to a grinding halt earlier on Tuesday due to torrential downpour. The first train left Churchgate in south Mumbai for Virar at 2358 hrs, the Western Railway tweeted.

"Evacuation of all stranded passengers is priority and trains will be run throughout the night, if required," it said.

Mumbai's suburban train network, which carries over 65 lakh passengers a day, is the lifeline of the financial capital and halting of the services had led to inconvenience to many office-goers who had braved the heavy rains to make it to their offices.

There was, however, no clarity over the fate of the trains of the Central Railway, which originates from the Chhtrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

The CR tweeted around 11:30 pm that services on the Thane-Kalyan line, which is a section on the main line, had resumed.

Two minors dead in Vikhroli

Three persons, including two minors, were killed on Tuesday in two house collapse incidents in suburban Vikroli in the wake of torrential rains that lashed the megapolis, police said.

In the first incident in the hilly Suryanagar area, a house at a higher level collapsed on one below, trapping a one-and-a-half-year-old infant, Nikhil, 40-year-old Suresh Arjun Prasad Mourya and Kiran Baby Pal (25), a senior police official said.

They were taken to a nearby civic hospital where Nikhil and Mourya were declared dead before admission, the official said.

At Varshanagar hill area of Vikroli Parksite, a protective wall collapsed on a house, killing two-year-old Kalyani Jangam on the spot, he said. Her parents Gopal Jangam (36) and Chhaya Jangam (30) suffered injuries.

Parties sling mud

The BJP, the Shiv Sena and the NCP came out with their own views on the situation in the metropolis.

While Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis advised offices to let employees leave early and issued similar orders for government staffers, Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray said there was no need to evacuate offices.

"We have advised (private) offices to allow their employees to leave for their homes early today. We have issued similar orders for government employees," Fadnavis said after taking a stock of the situation at the State Disaster Management Control (SDMC) room at the state secretariat.

"Since we can monitor the whole city through CCTV cameras, we have got to know that there is heavy waterlogging in the city. I appeal to the people to venture out of their homes only if it is of utmost necessity. Those who are stuck in offices should see the alerts we are periodically sending out and leave only when the situation is favourable," he said.

Fadnavis added that due to diversion of traffic along various routes, there were traffic snarls at several places.

Thackeray, who heads the Sena's youth wing, meanwhile, tweeted that there was no need to evacuate offices.

"Traffic build up is heavy due to over load of vehicles. Please stay put safely where you are," Thackeray tweeted.

He said 26 pumps installed after 2005 deluge were pumping out 6,000 litres of water per second.

Thackeray, whose party rules the BMC, said the civic body personnel have been out on the streets helping people and dealing with the situation arising out of the downpour.

He said "288 smaller pumps have been active the whole day. As many as 30,000 BMC staffers are out on the streets helping Mumbaikars directly, indirectly." The Opposition NCP criticised the BJP-led government over its "failure" to aptly handle the situation.

NCP leader Dhananjay Munde said the administration did nothing despite receiving a warning of heavy rainfall two days in advance.