Several areas of Mumbai and Thane were waterlogged as heavy rains lashed the city for the third consecutive day Saturday, severely disrupting road and rail traffic, and causing minor wall collapses.
Several areas of Mumbai and Thane were waterlogged as heavy rains lashed the city for the third consecutive day Saturday, severely disrupting road and rail traffic, and causing minor wall collapses.
According to a weather department official, south Mumbai recorded 95.6 mm of rainfall while the western suburbs recorded rainfall of 166.6 mm in the last 12 hours till Saturday evening. The eastern suburbs received 45.8 mm rain in the 12 hours ending Saturday evening.
Many areas including Parel, Hindmata, Milan Subway, Worli, Dadar, Santacruz, Andheri, Malad, Kandivli, Ghatkopar and Vikhroli faced heavy water-logging, causing inconvenience to people. Many arterial roads too were blocked, causing traffic snarls. Road traffic had to be diverted through alternative routes due to water-logging in low-lying areas of the city.
“Trains were running late by 30-45 minutes due to water-logging at Sion, Matunga, Wadala, Parel and Masjid stations. About 38 trains were cancelled on the main line and 14 on harbour line,” said Central Railway official AK Singh. Train services on the Western line were running late by 10-15 minutes but there were no cancellations.
With parts of the city getting submerged, causing major inconvenience to everyone, questions are being raised about BMC’s much touted monsoon preparedness, especially the cleaning of the storm water drains, which is crucial for smooth drainage of excess flood water. There were also eight incidents of wall collapse across the city, though there were no casualties.
Leader of the Opposition in the BMC and Congress MLA Rajhans Singh slammed the BMC for not completing the necessary preparatory work ahead of the monsoons. “The drains near the railway tracks were not cleaned. At Kurla, Chembur and Dharavi, the drains are in a pathetic condition. As a result, the major nullah there could not drain the storm water, causing the flooding,” he said.
“Every year the BMC claims that the city’s drains can ‘accommodate’ only 50mm rain. So what are we supposed to do if it rains more than that?” asked BJP corporator Ashish Shelar. Mayor Shraddha Jadhav, however, said, “The cleaning of nullahs is still going on and the work will continue during the monsoons.”
According to the weather department officials, parts of the city can expect heavy to very heavy rainfall on Sunday as well.
Heavy rain forecast today
According to a weather department official, Colaba (south Mumbai) recorded 95.6 mm of rainfall while Santacruz (in the western suburbs) recorded rainfall of 166.6 mm and the eastern suburbs received 45.8 mm in 12 hours till Saturday evening. Heavy rain is also being forecast in some parts of the city Sunday.
Vessel drifts towards sea link
An unmanned vessel, MV Wisdom, which was being tugged towards Alang from Colombo, went adrift due to rough seas 12 nautical miles from Mumbai. The ship then drifted towards the Mumbai coast leading to fears that it would collide with the Bandra Worli sea link. The coast guard sent an aircraft to locate the vessel.
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