Mumbai: Heavy rain lashes the city again, two dead in tree falls

A traffic jam at Goregaon on the WEH. Pic/Anurag Ahire

With heavy rain lashing the city, chaos ensued once again. Two people lost their lives in tree and branch collapses at Malad and Goregaon. Many low-lying areas were waterlogged and BEST buses had to shift their routes. Traffic on crucial road links slowed down. But as the rain receded in the evening, life returned to normal in many places.

As the rain wreaked havoc across the city and suburbs, one person died in Malad West after a peepal tree collapsed at midnight. Kiran Dighavkar, assistant commissioner of P North ward, said the incident occurred in Manibhai Chawl in Mamlatdar Wadi. The tree was on private premises. Kaushal Doshi, 38, was seriously injured and shifted to Dr Ambedkar hospital in Kandivli West where he was declared brought dead.

The flooded SV Road at Borivli. Pic/Nimesh Dave

Doshi went to the public toilet at midnight and didn't return. In the morning, members of his family started looking for him and found him under the tree. On Wednesday at around 3.30 pm, a tree branch fell on a house in old BMC colony, at Mithanagar, near Datta Mandir, Goregaon West, injuring one person. Premlal Nirmal, 30, was declared brought dead by the doctors at a nearby hospital.

The BMC received 48 complaints of trees/big branches falling on Tuesday and Wednesday. Complaints of stones and soil falling were received from two spots in the eastern suburbs. As a safety measure, 20 to 25 houses were evacuated at Surya Nagar, Vikhroli West.

Andheri subway closed

The subway at Andheri was closed for traffic around 1 pm on Wednesday after it was submerged in rain water. Though the BMC has installed a high capacity pumping system at the subway, it proved insufficient during heavy rain. The subway was opened again in another hour.

Western suburbs waterlogged

The heavy rainfall in Mumbai and adjoining areas also led to waterlogging in several parts of the city on Wednesday, due to which some BEST buses were diverted. These included routes in Borivli and Dahisar. A BMC official said, "The Ketaki Pada road, Shakti Nagar (Dahisar East) and Borivli East station roads faced waterlogging issues due to which BEST bus routes were diverted via Konkani pada bridge, Aashish Complex and Kasturba Road no 7 respectively." BEST buses on routes in Thane were also diverted. Due to waterlogging at Vandana Talkies, Thane, buses on routes 499 and 694 were diverted via Ram Maruti road and Marathon Chowk Petrol pump.

One person died after a tree collapsed at Manibhai Chawl in Mamlatdar Wadi, Malad

Central and Western Railway services also slowed through the day but ran without disruption. Motorists and commuters in the western suburbs faced a lot of inconvenience and traffic jams were seen at several places including on the arterial Western Express Highway, SV Road and Linking Road. Waterlogging was also witnessed near Borivli station.

Wall collapse on cars

A wall collapsed at a posh colony in Navi Mumbai's NRI Complex in Seawoods damaging three luxury cars were damaged.

Civic chief's visits

After the heavy rain on Thursday morning, civic chief I S Chahal visited Worli, BKC, Mithi River, Vakola Mini pumping station, Dharavi T Junction, Hindmata and Gandhi Market along with Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu, Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ulhas Mahale and other officials.

"On the first day, the western suburbs received 140 mm of rain in 4 to 5 hours and eastern suburbs received 120 mm of rain. During that time there was high tide. Under the circumstances we can't avoid waterlogging. But we will de-water on a war footing," said Chahal. He also ordered officials to visit low-lying areas and subways to make sure all the machinery (pumps) was working.

He added, "We have set up de-watering pumps at 480 spots, and their responsibility has been given to the engineers. They will ensure that the pumps continue to function during flooding." Chahal claimed that this year, the BMC has removed more filth from nullahs than before. He also claimed to have removed floating materials at least thrice from nullahs.

He said there were refrigerators found in the Mogra nullah. "People throw garbage in the drains, especially in slum areas. I request the citizens with folded hands not to throw trash in the nullahs," said Chahal. There is a possibility of heavy to heavy rain in Mumbai for the next 4-5 days. Chahal ordered all deputy municipal commissioners, assistant municipal commissioners and all officials concerned to visit waterlogging-prone spots and low-lying areas. He also asked them to keep a close watch on all the subways.

48
No of complaints of trees/branches falling on Tuesday