Mumbai rains: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and surrounding areas on Wednesday, disrupting rail and vehicular movement. India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for the city and its neighbouring districts, predicting "extremely heavy rainfall" for Thursday. Traffic on roads also crawled while local trains ran behind schedule.
Significant water-logging was reported from Kurla, Chembur, Mulund, Vikhroli, Breach Candy and some other areas in Mumbai, where people were seen wading their way through waist-level water.
Train services affected
Several local trains, which is considered the lifeline of the city, were delayed due to incessant rains. Passengers in a huge number were seen waiting for their train at the railway stations. Water-logging on tracks affected the services of local trains and express trains at some places between Kurla and Thane, leaving commuters stranded at different stations.
"Kurla railway track was inundated due to heavy rains, forcing local trains to stop on tracks between Thane and Mumbai. Thousands of passengers are stranded in these trains," a railway commuter said.
Mumbai's eastern suburbs received the highest rainfall of less than 30 mm before 6 pm on Wednesday, a Mumbai civic body official said.
14 flights diverted due to rains
As many as 14 incoming flights at the Mumbai Airport were diverted to different airports on Wednesday due to heavy rains. Of these, nine flights were of IndiGo alone which were not given clearance to land in the city due to the inclement weather, the official said. Of the remaining flights which were instructed by the ATC to divert to other airports, two were of Vistara and one each was of Air India, Akasa and Gulf Air. Seven of the diverted flights were instructed to land in Hyderabad, four at Ahmedabad, two at Mopa Airport in Goa and one at Udaipur, the official added. The city is witnessing heavy showers since afternoon, leading to waterlogging and disruption of traffic.
Vehicular movement affected
Traffic on roads also crawled due to waterlogging in several parts of the city. Several suburbs of Mumbai have been receiving significant rain from Wednesday afternoon, with Mulund and its surroundings experiencing the heaviest rainfall, inundating low-lying areas.
Details of IMD report
Heavy showers have been lashing the island city from the evening, slowing down road traffic due to water-logging and poor visibility. Local train services were also delayed due to rains, said officials.
Holiday for schools and colleges in Mumbai
Schools and colleges in Mumbai and its suburbs will remain shut on Thursday amid a red alert for heavy rains. School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar, the guardian minister for Mumbai city, declared a holiday as heavy rains pounded Mumbai.
A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation official said the holiday has been declared as a precautionary measure as the Met department has issued a red alert predicting extremely heavy rainfall till 8:30 am on Thursday.
In its latest warning, issued at 5.30 pm, IMD predicted “extremely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places” in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts.
Red alert issued for Mumbai
The Met department issued a red alert for Mumbai, Palghar and an orange one for Thane, Raigad, Mumbai and Pune for September 26. An orange alert has been issued for Nashik and Dhule districts in north Maharashtra.
IMD scientist Sushma Nair said a trough runs from north Konkan to south Bangladesh across a cyclonic circulation over south Chhattisgarh and its neighbourhood extending to the middle tropospheric level tilting southwards with height.
"This will lead to fairly widespread to widespread light/moderate rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa during the week," she said. Isolated heavy rainfall is very likely over Konkan and Goa and central Maharashtra during September 25-27.
Also read: Two flights diverted, seven aborted landing at Mumbai airport as heavy rains lash city
