Highlights: Heavy rains batter Mumbai, flight, train services affected
The IMD revised its predictions for Mumbai and surrounding areas, saying it can expect “intermittent rains for next two days in few places”.
Torrential rains battered Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra on Wednesday, disrupting normal life in the country’s financial capital. Flights were badly hit after a private airline skidded on Mumbai airport’s main runway, forcing its closure.
Flights were landing on and taking off from a secondary and shorter runway, leading to huge delays, diversions, go-arounds and cancellations since Tuesday night, officials said.
Mumbai’s lifeline local trains services were delayed for 15 to 20 minutes due to the heavy downpour.
The IMD said Mumbai suburbs recorded a whopping 354 mm rainfall till Wednesday morning, making it the second highest downpour on a single day since the great Mumbai floods when the city experienced 945 mm rains.
The IMD, which had forecast heavy and widespread rains in the state till Saturday, revised its predictions for Mumbai and surrounding areas, which can now expect “intermittent rains for next two days in few places”.
Here are the highlights:
9.45pm: Flight update | An airport official told HT that the Spicejet aircraft has been moved out of the runway. “We will resume operations on main runway in an hour,” they said.
8.55pm: Weather update | Disaster Management Unit of Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai says IMD has forecast intermittent rain and thunderstorms are likely to occur in the city and its suburbs. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely at one or two places.
8.20pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police reports water logging in both directions at Hindmata and asks commuters to use route diversion at Naigaon cross road.
7.55pm: Flight update | NOTAM notification for closure of main runway at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport extended up to 6 am on Thursday, ANI reports.
7.15pm: Traffic update | Water logging at SG Barve Marg, Nehru Nagar in Chembur. Traffic is moving slow in both directions at Hindmata and Parel, due to water logging, reports Mumbai Police.
6.45pm: The Mumbai Police had earlier warned of another high tide at 6.04pm. However, disaster management cell officials told PTI that the effect of water logging due to high tide got over by the afternoon and water slowly started receding in many areas, getting drained into the Arabian Sea.
6.44pm: Weather update | The IMD, which had on Tuesday forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in parts of Mumbai region for Wednesday, in its forecast issued this afternoon, said the city would receive intermittent rains. It said there would be heavy rainfall at a couple of places in the city.
6.40pm:Traffic update | Thane Police reports water logging and stalled traffic at Kajupada. They have asked riders to use alternate road.
5.49pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police says traffic is smooth at Kandivali, Borivali, Eastern Express Highway, Kalanagar Bridge, Sakinaka, Haji Ali Junction, Tardeo, Peddar Road and Girgaon.
5.45pm: Flight update | ANI reports 63 Jet Airways, 8 IndiGo, three SpiceJet flights and one GoAir flight cancelled due to bad weather at Mumbai airport.
5.25pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police reports slight water logging at Andheri subway. Traffic normal at DN Nagar.
5.05pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police says there is no water logging or traffic diversion in Worli and smooth traffic on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link.
4.55pm:
4.50pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police says there is no water logging and traffic is normal at BKC, Dahisar, Dadar, Parel, Matunga and Tardeo.
4.45pm: Watch — The Ahmedabad-Bandra Jn Lokshakti Express passing through the Nallasopara station on the Western line at around 8am.
4.36pm: Train update | Central Railway says it trains are running with a delay of 10 to 15 mins.
4.25pm: Flight update | 51 flights had been diverted and 108 cancelled till 8:30 am.
Jet Airways released a that have been diverted or cancelled due to the rains. The airline is waiving off date and flight change, refund and no-show penalties on all the confirmed tickets issued for travel on September 20 and 21, 2017 for all flights into/ out of India.
4.18pm: Train update | Western Railways says its trains are running normal between Churchgate and Virar and Dahanu Road except a few cases of minor delay as at 4.15 pm.
4.15pm: Traffic update | Mumbai Police says there is obstruction in north bound traffic on Centaur Bridge, Vile Parle, and the Western Express Highway due to breakdown of a Car. Traffic is moving slow.
3.30pm: Local trains are running with a delay of 10 to 15 mins.
3pm: Water logging at Pannalal compound, Tank road junction and Johnson& Johnson Co. in Mulund, says Mumbai police.
2.15pm: “There is no cyclonic storm over Mumbai. BMC has not received any intimation from IMD regarding this. It is a rumour and I request Mumbaikars not to believe it. There is no reason to panic. There will be intermittent showers across Mumbai over the next 24 hours but there is no warning of heavy rainfall in Mumbai,” says Sudhir Naik, deputy municipal commissioner of BMC.
1.30pm: More than 50 flights cancelled due to main runway closure at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport.
The main runway will remain closed till 6pm on Wednesday.
1.15pm: In the Konkan region, many towns and villages experiences water logging in Sindhudurg, Ratnagiri, Raigad and Palghar districts disrupting normal life.
1.05pm: Indigo and Spicejet have assured all passengers travelling to and from Mumbai can get their booking rescheduled/cancelled without any fees.
1pm: No cyclone warning for Mumbai. Citizens are requested not to trust and spread rumours, says BMC.
12.30pm: The Mumbai Airport extended closure of all flight operations on the main runway till 2 pm as work on towing out a stranded private airlines aircraft continued amidst ongoing heavy rains, low visibility and strong winds.
12.05pm: A 22-member Zimbabwe Under-19 team which was supposed to reach Mumbai yesterday, has been stranded at Nagpur’s Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar International Airport since Tuesday night, reports news agency IANS.
11.55am: On Wednesday morning, BMC commissioner Ajoy Mehta visited different parts of the city, including Hindmata Junction, to review the situation.
11.10am:
10.50am: Khar subway has now been opened for traffic, say Mumbai police.
10.45am: Water logging in Bandra at Railway colony on S V Road. Diversion towards linking road of both directions.
10.30am:
9.50am: Mumbai recorded 210 mm rainfall, suburbs 303 mm and Dahanu recorded 304 mm rainfall, says IMD.
9:41am: At least 13 Mumbai-Delhi flights delayed and 15 cancelled, reports news agency ANI.
9:40am: The closure of main runway of the Mumbai airport extended till 1400hrs local time, says the Airport Authority of India.
9:30am: Traffic is moving slow on the Santacruz Chembur Link Road, South Bound, Chembur.
9.10am: Andheri, Dahisar and Khar subway as well as Andheri station road closed due to waterlogging.
9am: Traffic is moving slow on Kherwadi Bridge, Kherwadi due to waterlogging.
8.50am:
8.45am: Massive waterlogging reported in areas of Borivali, Sion, Hindmata in Dadar, Goregaon, Andheri, Kandivali, Malad, Kharghar, Mankhurd, and Bhandup.
8.35am: According to data received from the Indian Meteorological department (IMD) the Colaba weather station recorded 191mm of rainfall, and the Santacruz station recorded 275mm of rainfall until 5.30 am on Wednesday.
8.30am: Traffic is normal, no waterlogging at Tardeo and Kalbadevi, says Mumbai police.
8.20am: Flight operations at the Mumbai airport remain affected for the second day today following heavy rains that continue to lash the metropolis.
As many as 56 flights have been diverted to different airports till this morning as the main runway continues to be out of use due to the SpiceJet aircraft stuck there, an airport official said.
8.10am: Five Western Railways trains have been cancelled. On Central Railways, six trains cancelled and two diverted.
8am: Schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) have been instructed to remain closed on Wednesday in the backdrop of heavy rains, the Maharashtra government announced Tuesday night.
7.50am:
7.45am:
7.30am: The MeT office has predicted heavy rainfall on Wednesday and Thursday.
7am: A SpiceJet aircraft overshot the wet main runway while landing around 10pm and then got stuck in mud leading to suspension of flight operations. Officials said that all 183 passengers are safe.
On August 29, Mumbai received over 300 mm of rainfall within a few hours, which led to a deluge, crippling the transport system and bringing the city to a standstill.
On Tuesday, the city recorded 101.6mm rain over a span of three hours on Tuesday, bringing back fears of a deluge. It recorded the second-highest 24-hour September rainfall since 2013 in just 12 hours and fourth highest in a decade. South Mumbai recorded the highest rainfall for a 12-hour period this season.
The BMC’s disaster management cell, however, tweeted it had not been issued an ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall warning by the weather department.