Waterlogging, traffic snarls in many parts as heavy rains lash city

In just three hours, the city recorded 88 mm rain on Saturday. At 5pm, IMD’s Santacruz weather station (Mumbai’s base station) had recorded only 27.8 mm rain, by 8.30pm the reading was 115.8 mm

Mumbai: Heavy rains lashed Mumbai on Saturday, leaving wide swathes of the city waterlogged. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert (heavy rains from 60 mm to 200 mm) for the next 24 hours in view of continuous rain.

Mumbai, India - June 24, 2023 : Water logging in a Subway due to Heavy Rain at Andheri, in Mumbai, India, on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Photo by Vijay Bate/HT Photo)

In just three hours, the city recorded 88 mm rain on Saturday. At 5pm, IMD’s Santacruz weather station (Mumbai’s base station) had recorded only 27.8 mm rain, by 8.30pm the reading was 115.8 mm.

While the city received light showers in the morning, heavy rainfall in a few parts of the city began after 5pm. The rainfall in Dahisar was 143.01 mm followed by Vikhroli and Marol, which recorded 119.8 mm. The Western suburbs recorded the maximum rainfall at 96 mm till 9pm followed by Eastern suburbs at 79 mm and island city at 71 mm.

Saturday’s downpour was a result of active monsoon currents. IMD officials said southwest monsoon currents got activated 24 hours ago and some parts of south Konkan received very heavy rain. “Monsoon that paused at Ratnagiri on June 11 reached Alibaug on Saturday. We expect monsoon to set in Mumbai over the next 48 hours,” Sushma Nair, a scientist with the IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre.

The rains also claimed two lives after two sanitation workers were washed away while they were inside a nullah near Shivaji Nagar bus depot in Govandi at 4pm. The deceased have been identified as Ramkrishna, 25, and Sudhir Das, 30. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). These workers were hired by a private contractor for the civic body’s work.

Meanwhile, social media platforms were flooded with videos and pictures of waterlogging and traffic snarls in various parts of the city.

Traffic movement was hit after Andheri subway faced waterlogging on Saturday evening. The Mumbai Traffic police on Twitter announced that the subway was shut due to waterlogging. It said that the traffic was diverted towards SV Road on the west side and diverted towards Andheri Station Road and Western Express Highway on the east side. As the key Andheri east-west connector, Gokhale bridge, was shut in November last year, the subway is one of the nearest routes. “The subway was open to traffic after water was pumped out.”

Besides, the traffic police said vehicular movement was slow at Asalpha and Sakinaka junction due to waterlogging, the BD Road near Mahalaxmi temple and Gaffar Khan Road near Worli Sea Link gate also reported a slow vehicular movement.

The BMC, on the other hand, had made multiple claims since last month on keeping various spots flood-free. Just last week, the civic body had issued a statement that it will try to keep the Andheri subway free of floods.

BMC commissioner and administrator Iqbal Chahal said the first rains always have teething problems, like previous monsoons. Chahal added that he is sure that this will smoothen out in the coming few days.

Additional commissioner (Projects) P Velrasu said, “A good storm water department system will drain the water at the earliest. We have achieved this in all locations by pumps and engineering measures. Gandhi market and Hindmata were all normal immediately and traffic was smooth.” Velrasu also explained that the catchment area at Andheri subway is huge and water cannot be drained quickly.

A total of 11 tree falling incidents were also reported in the city. Of them, five were in Western suburbs, two in eastern suburbs and four in the island city.

Ten cars were damaged after a tree fell in Malabar Hill. “We immediately reached the spot. The fire brigade acted swiftly. Nobody was injured in the incident,” senior police inspector Uday Singh Shingade said.

A small portion of a house collapsed in the western suburbs, the BMC said and added that fire brigade was dispatched to the spot.

The BMC said that due to heavy rains after 5pm, five spots in the city reported waterlogging with slow draining. Of these, two were in Western suburbs—Andheri Subway and Dahisar Subway. Two in island city—Dadar TT circle and Sion—and Tilak Nagar in eastern suburbs.

Short circuits were reported at seven places—three in island city, two each in Western and eastern suburbs.

Various BEST buses were also diverted due to waterlogging. Seven bus routes were diverted in Sion, three in Malad and four in Dahisar. The railways said that all sections, all suburban trains and mail express trains were running smoothly.