Maharashtra rains: Schools in Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg closed amid heavy downpour

Pic/Kirti Surve Parade

In view of the heavy showers in parts of Maharashtra, the state government declared a holiday on Monday for all schools in Mumbai, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, reported news agency PTI.

Maharashtra School Education Minister Deepak Kesarkar made the announcement in the state legislative council in Mumbai.

"Mumbai received rains last night. We have issued a notification in the morning declaring a holiday today for all the schools in Mumbai city, Mumbai suburban, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts," he said, reported PTI.

The movement of local trains on the Central Railway routes has also been affected due the Maharashtra rains, the minister said.

The local trains were running 30-40 minutes late. The situation will improve by afternoon, Kesarkar said in the House amid Maharashtra rains.

Meanwhile, local train services on the Central Railway routes were severely affected and flight operations were also hit in Mumbai on Monday after heavy rains in the city, reported PTI.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared a holiday for the day for all the civic, government and private schools and colleges in the city to avoid inconvenience to students.

"The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai. Additionally, at 1.57 pm today, there will be a 4.40 m high tide in the sea," a BMC spokesperson said, reported PTI.

Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of the Central Railway (CR), said train services on the fast line of the main corridor between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai and neighbouring Thane were suspended due to waterlogging at various places, reported PTI.

Suburban services were running on the slow line, he said.

The Harbour corridor services were also temporarily suspended due to waterlogging at Chunnabhati.

Commuters complained that the operational suburban services were running late. There was heavy rush of commuters at some of the key stations and in trains.

The CR officials said due to heavy rain and high tide in Mumbai, local train movement in the suburban section was affected and asked people to avoid travelling unless unavoidable, reported PTI.

The civic body said there will be a high tide of 4.40 meters in Mumbai at 1.57 pm, which coupled with heavy rains could lead to waterlogging in low lying areas.

The Western Railway said suburban trains were running up to 10 minutes late because water was above the track level between Matunga Road and Dadar due to heavy showers, reported PTI.

"High capacity water pumps are being utilised to drain water away from the railway tracks to ensure a smooth commute for Mumbaikars," a Western Railway spokesperson said, reported PTI.

(With inputs from PTI)