Mumbai: No electricity in many areas, railways hit, roads waterlogged

A vehicle splashes water on a flooded street after heavy rain showers in Mumbai on July 1, 2019. Heavy rains flooded parts of India's financial capital of Mumbai on Monday as the country's four-month summer monsoon swung into full force. Pic/AFP

With a continuous downpour on Tuesday, Mumbai has come to a standstill. The BMC has diverted traffic in many areas. Areas like Parel and Dadar are still under water. Following heavy rainfall, Nalasopara station is also waterlogged. There was traffic congestion on roads and delays in train movement.

As per recent updates by the BMC, water has successfully been pumped out of Hind Mata and Andheri subway. Long-distance trains from different parts of India, expected to reach Mumbai, have also been stranded at various locations en route, details of which are awaited. Train number 12935 Bandra Terminus to Surat Intercity of July 2 has been cancelled, Western Railway said in a bulletin.

Due to heavy rains and water logging on tracks in Palghar, On July 2, 19023 Janta Exp is rescheduled at 8.25 hrs ex Mumbai Central.19015 Saurashtra Exp rescheduled at 9.20 hrs ex Mumbai Central. 11104 Bandra T-Jhansi Exp rescheduled at 08.00 hrs ex Bandra T.

In a recent update by the BMC, 1,000 people have been evacuated from Kranti Nagar, Kurla, "to prevent any untoward incidents due to an overflowing Mithi River".

Road traffic also continued to be for the second consecutive day in the city and suburbs as many areas were waterlogged, the subways in Andheri, Jogeshwari, Vile Parle, and Dahisar flooded. The two highways, main and arterials roads remained virtually deserted as people chose to remain indoors, autorickshaws, taxis, and aggregator cabs were also largely missing. With the main lifelines of the millions of Mumbai commuters, the roads and trains remaining practically off-bounds, the state government early today declared a precautionary holiday for Mumbai.

The Central Railway (CR) early on Tuesday suspended suburban train services after incessant heavy rain flooded tracks at several spots between Mumbai-Thane, and services on Western Railway were also hit as Maharashtra government declared a precautionary public holiday for the city, officials said. The CR train services, which were earlier suspended between Thane-Kurla, were suspended from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus to Thane due to tracks getting submerged at various locations on the route and delays were reported on WR suburban network.

There is no electricity in several areas in Mumbai, as the distribution companies have had to switch off supply due to the threat of water inundating critical infrastructure. The worst-hit areas because of water logging are Kurla, parts of Andheri, Sion, Dadar, among others.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has appealed to people not to step out unless absolutely necessary in view of the continuous downpour. While the government has declared a holiday for schools and colleges, road, rail, and air traffic are also hit.

Both IMD and Skymet have forecast heavy rains to continue till July 5. The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) had declared a holiday for all schools and colleges, and the state government expanded it to include other parts of coastal Konkan region.

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