11 July,2014 12:40 PM IST | | A Correspondent
Continuous downpour led to waterlogging at many parts of Mumbai, disrupting road and rail traffic, that caused huge inconvenience to office-going commuters and school-going children
Mumbai: Water logging due to heavy rains that continued to lash the city for a second consecutive day caused major traffic snarls and also disrupted the suburban train services.
Till 2.30 pm today, Colaba received 17.1 mm rainfall while Santacruz recorded 53.2 mm downpour.
After a dry spell in June, heavy monsoon showers finally hit Mumbai on Thursday evening, disrupting normal life.
"There is water logging in low lying areas like Dadar, Parel, Sion, Kurla, Ghatkopar and the Western Express Highway which has caused severe disruptions in vehicular traffic along the stretches. The MCGM is trying to pump out water from these areas so that the situation can be normalised," a senior official of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM) said.
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He said 128 pumps had been pressed into service till 10.30 am to clear water out of the streets and that the civic body plans to install pumps in more areas if the downpour continues.
"There was a high tide in the city until noon and water will now start to recede. Another high tide is expected after 5.30 pm, when waves up to 3.96 metres are likely to lash the city," he added.
A BEST bus trying to make it's way through a flooded street. Pic/Emmanual Karbhari
According to the MeT department, monsoon in the city is likely to get stronger on Friday evening. Trains are running late by 10 to 15 minutes on the Central line, and by 15 to 20 minutes on the Harbour line. On the Western line too trains are behind schedule by 10 minutes. Flights too got delayed by over 20 minutes because of the continuous downpour.
People waiting for the local train at Kurla station. Pic/Bipin Pawar
Heavy monsoon showers affected suburban train services on the Central Railway's Main and Harbour lines due to water logging on the tracks.
"There is water logging on tracks in areas like Kurla, Chunabhatti, Bhandup, Dockyard and Sion, which is affecting the services of trains. Trains on the Central and Harbour lines are running late by about 25-30 minutes," a senior railway official said.
Water-logging at Oshiwara. Pic/Ranjeet Jadhav
Another railway official said trains on the Western line are running late by about 10-15 minutes. "There has been a revival of monsoon. We are expecting heavy rains for the next 48 hours not only in Mumbai, but in the entire Konkan region," V K Rajeev, director of weather forecasting, Mumbai MeT department, said.