Mumbai logged out: It’s raining chaos again

Heavy monsoon downpour threw the city out of gear on Saturday as flooded streets and traffic jams forced commuters to wade through filthy water, while train schedules were disrupted on all three lines.

The worst hit areas
Hindmata Junction at Parel, Dattaram Lad Marg (Kalachowki), Parel TT, Mahim junction, Andheri-Kurla road, the government colony at Bandra and Mahakali Caves, Andheri were some of the areas that were worst affected by water-logging. At a number of places, flooding was caused by garbage that had collected over manhole covers. A senior official from the BMC blamed the flyover work for the water logging at Hindmata Junction. “The contractor had created a barricade in the middle of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar Road and due to this, water collected on the lower side of the road.”

How much did it rain?
According to the Met office, the city had recorded 154mm rain till 11.30pm Saturday while the Eastern and Western suburbs recorded 195mm and 141mm respectively. Several areas like Dadar, Wadala, Byculla, Mazagaon, Mahim, Santacruz, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Kandivli, Mulund, Sion, Matunga and Ghatkopar were flooded with two to three feet deep water after the day-long showers.

Monsoon claims two lives
Two people died in monsoon-related accidents. Surekha Bajirao Sable died when a tree fell on her in Kandivali on Friday night. On Saturday, Manjula Kandaswami Devendra, 40, died due to electrocution at Shivajinagar in Govandi.

The forecast for today
The Met department has forecast ‘heavy to very heavy rain’ during the next 24 hours while the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) has warned that the low-lying areas could experience more flooding.

Stopped in their tracks
Traffic movement on the two main highways and other main and arterial roads around the city was slow, leading to traffic jams in many parts. Flights witnessed 15-20 minute delays in landing and take-off as rain brought visibility down to 500 metres.

High tide havoc
The high tide, on Saturday, rose to a dangerous 3.17 meters. Weather bureau officials indicated that the scenario could be quite serious if the high tide level rises to 4.50 meters.

Rains skip catchment areas
Mumbai’s water scarcity situation may not ease as much as one would like, with the rains largely bypassing the lakes that supply water to the city. There was no rain on the Tansa and Bahtasa lakes. While Tulsi lake received 6.9 mm rains, Vaitarna received 1.4 mm of rain. Only Vihar lake received about 17 mm rainfall. The MCGM’s 20 per cent water cut imposed last month will continue.

Mithi danger
The level of Mithi river rose to a dangerous 2.40 meters, which was the highest yesterday. Residents of Krantinagar in Kurla were shifted to a municipal school as the water level went up. At around 10.30pm, the level had come down to 2.10 meters and was expected to come further down through the night, at the time of going to print.

Traffic update
Due to water logging at King’s Circle, traffic on Eastern Express highway was stuck. SImilarly, Western Express highway saw traffic snarls due to water logging at Milan and Andheri subway.

Train update
Due to water logging in the tracks many trains were delayed on Saturday. The Central Railways was stranded for over four hours, however at the time of going to print it was running 50 minutes late. The western railway on the other hand was running 30 minutes late.

Sea link hit too
Five days after the Bandra-Worli sea link opened, the first accident was recorded on Saturday. A black Hyundai Accent was smashed, though no causlaties were reported.

Casualty count
While Surekha Bajirao Sable died in a tree falling incident on Friday night, two others were injured in the same incident. On Saturday, Manjula Kandaswami Devendra, 40, died due to electrocution at Shivajinagar in Govandi. Ten-year-old Abdul Samad Khan was injured in a similar incident. A wall collapse at Gangawadi chawl in Ghatkopar caused injuries to two minors (Needa Khan, 12, and Poonam Kolekar, 10) and an adult (Raina Shaikh, 24), who were moved to Rajawadi Hospital. In other cases, wall collapses at Chunabhatti, the BMCs ward office at Kurla and Mahul, Chembur, caused no casualties. A land slide on Gurkha Chawl at Bhandup was survived by the people living there. A rescue team consisting of one officer and two firemen was on standby.

Lakes still waiting
The lakes are still waiting for heavy rains. The catchment areas around, therefore, were almost dry. There was no rain on the Tansa and Bahtasa lakes. While Tulsi lake received 6.9 mm rains, Vaitarna received 1.4 mm of rain. Only Vihar lake received as much as 17 mm rainfall.

Trouble at Dockyard
Five families, including that consisting of an elderly couple, had to deal with waist length water in their houses at Dockyard Road. Owing to a new drainage system set up in the area near Ganga Bawdi, the water in the lane got flooded and entered the houses built in the compound of the All Sins Girls' Home. According to Milred Chanil, another resident, “The problem persists every year. The drainage system near the road is not built properly and water gets flooded easily. Since there is a slope outside our houses, it comes directly into our kitchen.”