It was a washed out Saturday as commuters waded through knee-deep water which flooded most parts of the city.
This year’s opening innings of monsoon brought the city to a virtual standstill on Saturday as heavy rainfall inundated several areas, and disrupted road traffic.
Rail schedules on the central and harbour lines were set back by 30 to 45 minutes.
Trains on the western line, however, lost 10 to 15 minutes, and no cancellations were reported. By 6.30pm, the BMC recorded nearly 107mm of rain in the city, with 93.39mm in eastern suburbs and 37.51 mm in the suburbs.
“Almost 38 trains were cancelled on the main line and 14 on the harbour line,” said AK Singh, PRO, Central Railway. Commuters however claimed that they had to wait for one-and-half-hours in the afternoon.
The civic body reported minor accidents, but no casualties. Traffic jams were reported at most major roads in south Mumbai.
The Western Express Highway, Malad, Borivli and Andheri station road also experienced slow traffic due to water-logging. Traffic was diverted at Parel and Dadar in south-central Mumbai and in the western suburbs.
The wall of a house collapsed at Vikhroli, in Tagore Nagar, but no one was injured in the incident. A landslide was reported at Kasaiwada in Kurla but the slums were already vacated in anticipation of the calamity.
Four trees were uprooted in South Mumbai and one in the western suburbs. In Parel’s KEM Hospital water reached the knees and the casualty and other wards on the ground floor were water logged and the patients had to be shifted upstairs.
The weather bureau has forecast heavy rains with thundershowers over large parts of the city and suburbs over the next 48 hours.
The arterial road near Gandhi Market near King’s Circle, identified as a chronic flood spot, where the National Disaster Response Force had conducted an extensive disaster management drill in April, saw no civic officials on Saturday.
The drill had involved five agencies of the state and over 20 of the BMC, but not a single agency was present on any of the chronic flood spots.
SS Shinde, joint municipal commissioner had assured citizens that in time of emergency people from 14 agencies like fire brigade, police et al, would get activated during floods.
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