First spell of heavy rains leaves 3 electrocuted; 3 hurt in wall collapse; Almost all low-lying areas get flooded, blocking traffic movement; Tracks submerged at Kanjurmarg, Bandra, Thane; local services hit
Three people, including a senior citizen out to buy vegetables, were electrocuted on Friday after the first spell of heavy rains hit the city, leaving several areas waterlogged, disrupting local services and triggering huge traffic snarls.
Sixty-year-old Kashima Yudiyar, a resident of Anna Nagar near Andheri RTO, suffered a fatal shock after she accidentally touched a parked truck that had come in contact with a live wire. Just two weeks ago, two kids had electrocuted in Kandivali as they enjoyed the first rains of the season.
At Irvani Estate on Mahakali Caves Road, Rajendra Yadav (60) and his son Sanjay Yadav (24), lost their lives trying to fix a ceiling fan in their house. A wall collapse at Kamgar stadium, Dadar, injured three people. Two of them are said to be in critical condition.
The rains also washed out the claims of 'months of preparation' and huge spending by the civic body to keep Mumbai flood free.
Almost every low-lying area was inundated for nearly two hours, blocking vehicular movement. As trains stopped or crawled on tracks, thousands of commuters ended up harrowed. The first half of the day saw waterlogging on tracks near Kanjurmarg, Thane, Mahim and Bandra.
Central Railway services were running with delays of over 30 minutes amid cancellation of several trains.
While the rains were a welcome relief for Mumbaikars who have been waiting for almost entire June for decent spell of rains, corporators and civic activists alleged that BMC had once again failed the litmus test of being prepared for monsoon despite such delay in arrival of rains.
Most of the parts including Hindmata, Kings Circle, Malad Subway, Dahisar Subway, Andheri Subway, Andheri Metro Station, Milan Subway, Kanjurmarg railway track, Mankhurd Subway, Poisar Subway, Khar Subway, Barve Nagar- Ghatkopar, Sakinaka, Mazgoan were under water for over two hours.
"We had 61 water pumps- 10 in the city, 30 in Eastern suburbs and 21 in Western suburbs operating to pump out water from flooded spots. While there wasn't a big tide but a neap tide of 3.22-metre height at 8.52 am on Friday also caused flooding," said a senior BMC official.
BMC officials also claimed that the Twitter handle operated by the civic body showed good result as constant updates on flooding spots were being shared and citizens were urged to avoid these areas. "We have also started action on a builder who had dumped debris in the Kanjurmarg nullah, which led to waterlogging on the railway track and delayed train service for more than half an hour," said another civic official.
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