Bouts of heavy rain lashed the city on Tuesday, causing water-logging in some areas and leading to traffic snarls on arterial roads. Flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) were shut between 6.49pm and 7.16pm due to low visibility in the evening, and seven flights were diverted.
Bouts of heavy rain lashed the city on Tuesday, causing water-logging in some areas and leading to traffic snarls on arterial roads. Flight operations at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) were shut between 6.49pm and 7.16pm due to low visibility in the evening, and seven flights were diverted.
Heavy rains began about 1pm, and within just seven hours, the Colaba observatory recorded 108.9mm of rainfall, while the Santacruz observatory recorded 134.9mm of rains till 8pm. Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said that Mumbai might witness similar heavy spells of rains on Wednesday as well. Heavy rains along with gusty winds were the result of an active weather system along the Arabian Sea, they said.
The rains caused water-logging in at least four areas, while 182 de-watering pumps were started at around 14 chronic flooding spots to flush out rain water. Andheri Subway, Hindmata, Mithibai junction on S V Road in Vile Parle, and Milan Subway in Santa Cruz saw water-logging in the evening. There was also water-logging on Veera Desai Road.
Vinod Tawde, minister for School Education, Higher and Technical Education said for student safety the state government had declared a holiday on Wednesday, and will compensate it with one day less of Diwali vacation.
There was heavy traffic on the Eastern Express Highway, the Amar Mahal flyover, the Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, Jijabai Bhosale Road and on the Sion Bandra Link Road. Traffic movement was slow in both directions on the Kavi Keshavsut Flyover. There was also heavy traffic on the north-bound arm of the Western Express Highway from Kalanagar to Vakola flyover, and from Bandongri to Andheri bridge.
North-bound traffic was also slow on Shahid Bhagat Singh Road, with a pile-up till Ambedkar Statue due to slow traffic on the freeway. Traffic towards Bandra Worli Sea link was restricted due heavy winds and rain, which led to long traffic jams at both ends of the Sea Link.
While there was no water-logging on railway tracks, train services on the Harbour line were affected between 2.40pm to 315pm due to a tree that fell on the overhead cables between Vile Parle and Santacruz. Services between CSMT and Andheri were affected due to this, while the main line remained operational. Western Railway (WR) officials said said that trains were running between CSMT and Bandra during this period.
Later in the evening, there were issues at Bandra after track circuit failure and technical fault at Vasai. “There are delays of 10 minutes or so. There are barely 3 cancellations,” said Mukul Jain, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), WR.
On the Central line, there were announcements made where people were asked to leave in the available trains due to heavy rains. “The trains are running late by 10 minutes or so but there were barely any cancellations,” said Ravindra Goel, Divisional Railway Manager (Mumbai), Central Railway.
Commuters however complained of crowded platforms and trains, and that trains were running late especially beyond Thane and Borivali, further north.
According to the disaster management cell of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), a case of land slide was reported in Bhandup in S-ward. A total of 17 cases of tree fall were reported, of which 11 were in the western suburbs.
The disaster management cell of BMC said that from 2pm to 8pm on Tuesday, the rainfall received in Andheri, Bandra and Borivali was 148 mm, 112mm and 127 mm rainfall respectively. Till 8pm, the western suburbs received around 77 mm rainfall, while City and eastern suburbs received 48mm and 57 mm respectively, it said.
In the morning, aggregator cabs charged 3-4 times the regular fare after drivers of Ola and Uber went on a flash strike. A section of drivers of the 45,000 Ola and Uber cabs in Mumbai went off road demanding assured earnings, security against assault on them and other issues.
Nearly 60 percent of their cabs went off road in the morning hours, though the mobile aggregators claimed that there was barely any impact. “Our cabs were running as usual. There was hardly any problem,” said an official from Ola Cabs. The drivers decided to go strike in a closed-door meeting late on Monday night.
“We regret the disruption caused to our rider and driver-partner community, due to a small group of individuals. We remain committed to serving the city and ensuring that our driver partners continue to access a stable income, while giving riders a convenient, reliable option to get around Mumbai,” said Uber spokesperson.
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