Headlines
Heavy rains paralyse Mumbai, Maharashtra slows down
Mumbai, June 19
Barely a week into the monsoon
on Friday, Mumbai and surroundings were paralysed as heavy rains lashed
these areas since Thursday evening, while torrential rains slowed down
other parts of Maharashtra, officials said here.
The Indian
Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy rainfall in Mumbai,
coastal Konkan and other parts over the next two-three days accompanied
by strong winds touching 60 knots and very rough seas.
"A high
tide, around 4.5 metres high, is expected today (around 2.30 p.m). If
there is heavy rains, it could create further problems," said V.K.
Rajeev, the director of weather forecast at IMD, Mumbai.
The
National Disaster Relief Management, the Indian Navy, Mumbai police,
fire brigade, home guards and other agencies were prepared to tackle any
emergencies that may arise due to the continuous rains lashing the
state.
The rains hit hard the lifelines of Mumbai -- the suburban
railway network -- with waterlogging on railway tracks, preventing
office-goers from commuting to and from their homes and workplaces.
While
the Central Railway (CR) and Harbour Line, and Western Railway (WR)
managed to start a few services for the day in the early hours, they
were delayed and later suspended in the city, rail officials and the BMC
Disaster Cell said.
However, services continued on the mainland
beyond Thane, Karjat-Kasara and Panvel sections of Central Railway and
beyond Vasai on Western Railway.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis
on Friday visited the state and Brihanmumbai municipal corporation
(BMC) Disaster Cells to take stock of the situation and discussed
precautionary and relief measures with top officials.
"Almost
four metres high tide expected around 2.00 p.m. today ... Appealing
everyone to avoid going near the sea. Please avoid going out of homes...
Be safe!" Fadnavis tweeted soon after, terming it as a major challenge
before the authorities.
He added that the BMC has deployed 176
pumping stations to flush out rainwaters into the Arabian Sea and most
pressing problems were addressed even as the government was prepared to
tackle any eventuality.
The civic body has advised people not to
send their children to schools and Mumbaikars told to venture out only
if necessary, while the Bombay High Court remained closed for the day in
view of the heavy rains expected to lash the city over the next two
days.
Meanwhile, heavy water logging and flooding has been
reported at various locations around the city including Dadar, Parel,
Byculla, Mazagaon, Mahim, Santacruz, Juhu, Vile Parle, Worli, Sion,
Chunabhatti, Andheri, Kurla, Borivali, Dahisar, Jogeshwari and other
areas preventing movement of road traffic.
All incoming and
outgoing domestic as well as international flights at Chhatrapati
Shivaji International Airport suffered delays of minimum 15 minutes and
above, an official spokesperson said.
Several incoming flights of
various airlines from different centres to Mumbai were diverted to dry
stations like Ahmedabad or Baroda.
Around 250 special buses have
been deployed in the city to ferry commuters who have been stranded in
different parts of the city as the suburban train services have
collapsed.
Meanwhile, Mumbai city recorded around 283 mm and suburbs averaged around 209 mm rainfall since Thursday.
There
were reports of tree crashes, road cave-ins, vehicles submerged in
rainwaters, power failures, traffic snarls on the Western and Eastern
Express Highways, waterlogging at both ends of several flyovers and the
Eastern Freeway.
Coastal regions of the state including Thane,
Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg experienced torrential rains,
hitting normal life with flooding in several towns and villages.
Heavy downpour was reported from Pune, Satara, Kolhapur, Aurangabad, Nashik and other cities slowing down normal life.