Relief for Mumbaikars day after rain chaos; schools and colleges shut

PTI, Jul 9, 2024, 11:19 AM IST

Mumbai: Rains abated in Mumbai on Tuesday, a day after crippling normal life and disrupting the air, rail and road traffic in the city.

Mumbai witnessed overcast skies on Tuesday morning, but the rains took a break even as schools and colleges were closed in view of the IMD’s warning of heavy showers.

Local trains, considered as the lifeline of the country’s financial capital, also came back on tracks as there was no waterlogging anywhere since early morning.

The suburban services were running with a minor delay of 5-10 minutes, authorities said.

There was no major waterlogging anywhere in the city and suburbs and the road traffic was smooth.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai centre had issued a “red alert” for the city on Tuesday, predicting “heavy to very heavy rainfall a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places”.

Hence, the civic body declared a holiday for schools and colleges in Mumbai on Tuesday.

A civic official said there will be a high tide of 4.31 metres in the Arabian Sea at 2.33 pm.

In the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Monday, the island city recorded an average 141.97 mm rainfall, while the eastern and western parts received 116.61 mm and 142.58 mm rains, respectively, an official said.

Between 8 am and 11 pm on Monday, the island city, eastern and western areas recorded an average rainfall of 116.07 mm, 84.77 mm and 109.55 mm, respectively.

On Monday, some parts of Mumbai received more than 300 mm rainfall just in six hours between 1 am and 6 am, resulting in severe waterlogging in many low-lying areas and disrupting suburban train services and flight operations.

Mumbai did not receive much rain overnight on Tuesday though there was heavy downpour in the city and suburbs on Monday evening, as per an update of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).

The Harbour Line track, on which services were suspended on Monday night between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Mankhurd due to waterlogging at Wadala, was operationalised at 4.30 am on Tuesday after the water receded, a Central Railway spokesperson said.

“On the Main Line, both fast and slow locals are running 2-3 min behind schedule and the Harbour Line locals are running almost on time now,” the spokesperson said.

The Western Railway on its social media handle said the suburban services on its slow and fast corridors were running normally with some delays.

The fast line services were delayed due to waterlogging at night in Dadar and Mahim stretch, it said.

An official of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking said no bus route, except one at Sangam Nagar in Wadala, was diverted or curtailed due to waterlogging.