Mumbai received heavy rainfall today following the onset of the southwest monsoon. Large-scale waterlogging has been reported in many areas, throwing traffic out of gear. There was slight delay in the running of suburban trains.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) today declared the onset of the monsoon over Mumbai, the adjoining Thane-Konkan areas, Ahmednagar, Parbhani and other parts of Maharashtra. It also warned of heavy to very rainfall for the day. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall was recorded in the suburbs till 8:30 AM today,” IMD Deputy Director K S Hosalikar said.
Most parts of the island city were flooded including the chronic spots of Hindmata, Parel TT, Sion, King’s circle, Dadar TT, Kalachowkie, Byculla, etc People took to social media to share pictures of flooded localities. The BMC had pressed several pumps into operation. Traffic had to be diverted from these areas. It was diverted from King’s circle to Bhaudani road. Traffic from Hindmata had been diverted via its flyover. Traffic was diverted on Sion road no 24 and SV Road to Linking road in Bandra.
Most parts of the city experienced thunder accompanied with rain post midnight. Island city as well as suburbs had widespread, consistent rainfall in the moderate to heavy category. According to IMD, the city received 37 mm rainfall until 8.30 a.m. Until 12 PM, island city had recorded 33.65mm rainfall, eastern suburbs had 3.80mm and western suburbs had 16.52mm rainfall as per BMC.
Trains on the Western line were running on schedule. On the Central line water entered the tracks between Matunga and Kurla stations leading to speed restriction being imposed on that stretch. Trains were running around 20 minutes late on central line and 10 minutes late on harbour line. Central railway officials said there were no cancellations of services.
“There was a case of wall debris falling on tracks this morning on Down slow line. The debris were removed immediately and for some time, trains on Down slow line were diverted to the fast line,” Sunil Udasi, Chief PRO of CR, said. This happened during non-peak early morning hours, he said. There is nothing to panic about and commuters are advised not to fall prey to rumours, Udasi added.
A portion of a slab fell in Prabhadevi and four people suffered minor injuries. The BMC has received complaints of five trees falling so far.
So far, two flights have been diverted due to bad weather but no cancellations or delays has been reported at the Mumbai airport.
(With inputs from The Hindu)