Monsoon fury leaves Mumbai battered, bruised and waterlogged – Hindustan Times

Torrential rain and strong wind battered Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Wednesday leaving many areas waterlogged and disrupting traffic.

Water entered the state-run J J Hospital in the Byculla area as the rain continued to pound through the day.

Maharashtra chief minister Uddhav Thackeray asked the Mumbai municipal corporation to stay on high alert in the view of more rain forecast for Thursday.

He took stock of the situation and asked the BMC to coordinate with the police and railway authorities, health machinery and NDRF to ensure that citizens do not face any hardships.

The incessant rain and high speed wind disrupted rail and road traffic, tripped power supply and uprooted trees in several areas. Many low-lying areas have been badly waterlogged.

Public transport in and around Mumbai which was already operating under restrictions because of the Covid-`19 pandemic, was further disrupted due to waterlogging on rail tracks and roads.

Low-lying areas of Chembur, Parel, Hindmata, Wadala and other areas of Mumbai reported massive waterlogging.

Authorities also pressed into service the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) which rescued around 200 passengers from a local train stranded in heavy rain between Masjid Bunder and Byculla stations in the evening.

High speed wind also toppled three large cranes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust in adjoining Raigad district.

“Due to high-speed winds, three key cranes fell at one of our terminals, but no one was injured in the incident,” PTI quoted chairman of JNPT Sanjay Sethi as saying.

He said the collapse of the cranes won’t affect operations at JNPT, one of the country’s biggest ports.

A tower of a telecom company also toppled in the wind near Old Vashi Creek Bridge in Navi Mumbai.

At 6 pm, the MeT department issued an alert for intense spells of 30 to 50 mm rainfall per hour with strong winds in Mumbai and suburban areas.

It said strong winds could reach up to 70 to 80 km per hour speed and occasionally gust to 100 km per hour in the next three to four hours.

The Central Railway suspended local train services on the Harbour Line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus(CSMT) and Vadala railway stations. Train services suspended due to waterlogging between Masjid Bunder and Sandhurst Road railway station. Mainline train services were operational.

Train services on Western Railway suspended between Churchgate and Mumbai Central railway stations.

“Due to very heavy rain and fallen trees near the tracks at Churchgate, Mumbai Central and in between Marine Lines and Charni Road, the special suburban trains have been suspended temporarily between Mumbai Central and Churchgate. Trains are being reversed from Mumbai Central Dadar, Bandra and Andheri,” said Sumit Thakur, chief public relation officer, Western Railway.

The Central Railway and Western Railway have been operating nearly 350 special train services each daily for those working in essential and emergency services amid the Covid-19 pandemic

Bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were also affected due to water-logging on some roads.

South Mumbai was badly hit as heavy rains led to waterlogging on several roads and low-lying areas.

The Colaba weather observatory recorded 229.6 mm rain in 9 hours (8.30 am to 5.30 pm), heaviest rain for the season for south Mumbai. Santacruz recorded 65.8 mm during this time.

According to the IMD, Thane city, Dombivli and Kalyan areas, which are part of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), received more than 120 mm rainfall during a 12-hour period ending at 5.30 am Wednesday.