10 dead as heavy rains pummel Mumbai; local train services suspended

PTI, Jul 18, 2021, 8:26 AM IST

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10 dead as heavy rains pummel Mumbai; local train services suspended: Ten people died in house collapses as incessant overnight rains pounded Mumbai and nearby areas, with the city witnessing severe waterlogging, and disruption of local train services and vehicular traffic.

Seven people died and two were injured after a house wall collapse at Vashi Naka in Mumbai’s Mahul area, a fire official said.

A retaining wall collapsed at 1 am after a tree fell on it, he said. The injured were taken to nearby Rajawadi hospital, he added.

Three hutment dwellers were killed as five shanties collapsed after a landslide following incessant overnight rains in Mumbai’s Vikhroli suburb at 2.30 am, a civic official said. Two persons were injured and were sent to a nearby hospital, he added.

The suburban train services on both Central Railway and Western Railway in the financial capital were suspended due to water logging in the tracks due to the overnight heavy downpour, railway officials said.

The rain fury reminded some Mumbaikars of the the 24-hour rainfall figure of 944 mm on July 26, 2005.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai in the backdrop of heavy rains, a BMC official said.

Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from green to red. A ‘green’ alert stands for ‘no warning’: no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain. A ‘red’ alert stands for ”warning”, and asks authorities to ”take action”. An ‘orange’ alert indicates that the authorities are expected to “be prepared”.

A sudden change in climatic conditions led to Mumbai witnessing over 100 mm rainfall in six hours, the IMD said in an early morning bulletin. It also changed the rains forecast for the city from orange to red alert.

The IMD said that till 6.30 am on Sunday, Mumbai and adjoining areas received over 120 mm rainfall in preceding 12 hours.

Mumbai would receive “heavy to very heavy” rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places, the IMD said.

Extremely heavy rainfall means precipitation of more than 204.5 mm in 24 hours, while heavy rainfall ranges between 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm rainfall, as per the IMD.

The bulletin issued at 3 am said IMD recorded 213 mm rainfall at Santacruz, 197.5 mm at Bandra and 174 mm at Colaba in the city.

Following the heay rains, Western Railway announced suspension of suburban services due to water logging at ”multiple locations.” ”@WesternRly Currently No local train services are running in both UP and DN direction till further notice due to water logging at multiple locations,” divisional railway manager of Western Railway’s Mumbai division tweeted.

Central Railway said that due to water logging in tracks at Dadar, Parel, Matunga, Kurla, Sion, Bhandup and other locations, train services on main line were suspended between CSMT and Thane.

”CSMT to Vashi services, including Bandra/Goregaon suburban services, are also not working,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief spokesperson of Central Railway.

Several long distance trains on both Central railway and Western Railway were affected due to the flooded tracks.

Before the pandemic, both Central Railway and Western Railway used to ferry over 75 lakh commuters daily on their over 3000 suburban services. The suburban services during the pandemic are restricted to emergency services staff and government employees.