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Waterlogging hits rail and road as rain lashes incessantly
At 6:30pm, the Mumbai Traffic Police listed 18 spots at which waterlogging had led to sluggish traffic, up from 12 spots three hours ago. Areas which were particularly bad were Penkar Pada in Mira Road, Poisar subway in Kandivali, NL Complex in Dahisar East, Anandilal junction at Azad Maidan
Mumbai: Heavy rains in the city on Thursday resulted in waterlogging in several parts of the city, leading to route diversions in some cases and traffic slowdowns in others, despite schools being shut and fewer cars on the road.
The usual suspect— the Andheri subway — was restricted for vehicular movement by 4:30pm, as was Samanta Nagar in Poisar and the Payal Hotel junction in Dahisar East after over three feet of water had collected.
At 6:30pm, the Mumbai Traffic Police listed 18 spots at which waterlogging had led to sluggish traffic, up from 12 spots three hours ago. Areas which were particularly bad were Penkar Pada in Mira Road, Poisar subway in Kandivali, NL Complex in Dahisar East, Anandilal junction at Azad Maidan.
“I exited the Anand Nagar metro station at Dahisar aaround 4:30pm to find waterlogging up to the thigh level,” said Virat Singh, a Dahisar resident who had taken his mother to see a doctor in Andheri.
“My house is near the station, so it was just a 10-minute walk. But the worst part was that the water was dirty and stinking. You could see all the plastic and trash floating. That’s a huge hazard.”
“The roads are so bad that all of us were forced to walk in the middle of it to avoid the parts with bad patches, potholes and open manholes. This was also the time many people were returning home, as the rains intensified later in the day and people were not anticipating the extent of waterlogging.”
Pravin Padwal l, joint commissioner of police (traffic) said that slow movement of traffic was reported on the Western Express Highway due to the waterlogging in Mumbai however there were no traffic jams reported.
“The situation is worst in Dahisar and north-bound roads there owing to the waterlogging in the Mira-Bhayander region,” said Padwal.
Schools shut
Virat was glad schools had been declared shut and his daughter given a holiday.
Some schools, like the Podar International School and Bombay Scottish School opted for online school. While some parents were happy with this form, like Mehek Talreje, mother of class 9 student, as it saved them from academic losses, not all were.
Another parent of a 10-grade student, Pankaj Khandelwal in Goregaon, did not think online schooling was effective. “The BMC should wait till the last minute to declare a holiday, only if it’s absolutely needed. Older students can especially adjust to the heavy rains. Often when announcements of heavy rain are made, the next day turns out to be calm,” he said.
Sunita George, principal at Bombay Scottish School, Mahim, said, “Whenever we have a doubt about the weather, we shift our classes to online mode. We continue to do blended learning anyway, as we have one day online in a week. We have a special day plan for online learning, including collaborative activity, use of the internet for learning, etc.”
“These are some lessons we learnt during COVID pandemic. For days like these, online classes are the best option.”
Vandana Lula, director of Podar International School, said, “We are very happy with the decision to conduct school online. This helps students engage in their own daily activities. Students are now used to hybrid mode.”
BMC on alert
Due to increased danger the ‘red’ alert posed for the city, the civic chief and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal instructed all the executive engineers of 24 administrative wards to spend their Wednesday night in their respective wards.
He asked all assistant commissioners to take rounds of all dilapidated buildings under C1 category and landslide prone spots in their wards along with the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams in their respective wards.
Manish Valanju, assistant commissioner, K east ward said that their focus was on landslide prone spots and dilapidated buildings.
Of the 34 dilapidated buildings only three are in imminent danger. This exercise was done in the wake of last year’s Kurla building collapse.
“In such situations it is advisable to shift them. We already have set SOPs under disaster management. We map the areas, sensitise people, issue notices, disconnect electricity and water supply and evict. Some matters go to court or the Technical Advisory Committee. We are worried that it shouldn’t be life threatening to anyone as it has been continuously raining in the last one week,” said Valanju.
Trains delayed
Both the Central and Western Railways were affected as the day progressed; which included Churchgate-Marine Lines, Kalyan station on the Main lines.
In the first half, the WR trains ran late by 10-12 minutes due to waterlogging between Churchgate and Marine Lines. By the evening, trains were affected between Borivali and Dahisar stations.
Outside Borivali station on the east, the condition turned bad as there was waterlogging. “Borivali station on the east is a new location for waterlogging. We will have to see the probable cause,” said a WR official.
This affected trains going to Virar and Dahanu. Likewise, the CR services were delayed owing to waterlogging at Kalyan.
The BEST Undertaking diverted eight bus routes across the city since 3.25 pm, majority of them were in the western suburbs between Goregaon and Dahisar where the bus routes had to be diverted and short terminated.
Adani shuts down 46 substations
With Mumbai’s northern suburbs recording over 100 mm rainfall in the last three hours, coinciding with high tide, Adani Electricity Mumbai Ltd (AEML) shut down 90 substations. This affected 45,000 people. By Thursday evening, as water levels receded in some parts, the official said substations were being restored but 46 of them remained shut.
The shutting down of substations followed severe waterlogging in parts of Mira Bhayander and Borivali. A spokesperson of AEML said, “Waterlogging has submerged electrical installations beyond safe operating levels, necessitating remote shutdown of over 90 substations in these areas.
“Our quick response teams have been deployed with emergency equipment and dewatering pumps at our substations to restore electricity supply as soon as water levels recede to safer levels.”
The quick response teams got the required information from installed water level sensors and thorough inspections. By 9pm, 46 substations out of 90 remained affected and were shutdown to ensure consumer safety.
