INDIA. Mumbai: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and adjoining areas, with water-logging seen in many parts of the city and suburbs throwing vehicular and rail traffic out of gear, even as the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) marked the arrival of South West Monsoon in Maharashtra, one day in advance on Wednesday.
“Monsoon has arrived in Mumbai. Although usually, the normal arrival date is June 10, the monsoon has arrived before the average arrival date,” Dr. Jayanta Sarkar, Deputy Director General (DDG), IMD Mumbai said.
According to the IMD’s predictions, heavy rains are expected in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Konkan areas till June 12. It has predicted a cloudy sky with moderate rain/ thundershowers in the city and suburbs in Mumbai. There is also a possibility of heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places. The Coastal Konkan belt, including Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar may receive heavy to very heavy rainfall for the next 4 days: Shubhangi Bhute, Scientist, IMD Mumbai said.
Besides, the IMD also predicted that the Southwest monsoon is likely to advance into more parts of Maharashtra and ultimately into parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, and West Bengal over the next two days.
In Mumbai, the Dahisar river flowing through the Sanjay Gandhi National Park located at Borivali in North Mumbai was in spate right from Wednesday morning. The incessant rainfall prompted the traffic police to shut four subways in the city, forcing motorists to abandon their vehicles on roads. The traffic police closed Milan, Khar, Andheri, and Malad subways in the western suburbs, for motorists due to water-logging at these places. Cranes were used to clear roads on which motorists had abandoned their vehicles due to water-logging.
Stretches of the Eastern Express Highway, Western Express Highway, major roads like SV Road in the west, and LBS Marg in the east, were flooded hampering vehicular movement and resulting in traffic snarls. BEST buses were plying through the water to help people reach their destination safely, but several diversions were announced in their routes to avoid the waterlogged areas. Neighbouring Kalyan and Dombivli also received heavy rainfall.
Rail traffic
Local train services from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to neighboring Thane and Vashi in Navi Mumbai were suspended due to water-logging on some railway tracks. Due to heavy rains in suburbs and water-logging at Chunabatti and between Sion- Kurla section the train services were suspended as a precautionary measure. CSMT-Thane mainline services were suspended from 10.20 am onwards and CSMT-Mankhurd harbor line services were suspended from 11.10 am onwards. However, the Trans-Harbour and BSU (Uran) services were running smoothly. Also, Shuttle services between Thane and Karjat/Kasara and Mankhurd-Panvel were running, Central Railway CPRO Shivaji Sutar said.
Some of the long-distance trains on the Central Railway were also rescheduled. They included the 02362 CSMT-Asansol special train was rescheduled at 1430 hrs against the scheduled time of 1105 hrs. Similarly, the 02598 CSMT-Gorakhpur special train was rescheduled at 1530 hrs against the scheduled time of 1330 hrs. There was no disruption on the Western Railway route and its local train services were running normally, WR’s CPRO Sumit Thakur said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the BMC control room and directed the administration to ensure that the accumulated rainwater is drained out at the earliest. He also spoke to the control rooms in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, and Palghar collectorate as incessant rains led to the inundation of several areas, affecting the normal life.
