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Heavy rains bring Mumbai to standstill

PTI | ByIndo-Asian News Service, Mumbai
Jul 27, 2005 12:04 PM IST

Transport system has been worst hit with train operations coming to a halt.

Flights to Mumbai were cancelled and life thrown out of gear on Tuesday as incessant rains snapped transport and telecom links, with more rains predicted in the next 24 hours.

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The departure and arrival of flights at the Mumbai airport, one of the busiest in the country, was suspended as the water level increased around the runway area, said a local civic services official.

The entire transport system in the city was worst hit with local train operations coming to a halt due to waterlogging on the railway tracks. Many office-goers were stranded in various railway stations for hours.

The local train is the lifeline of the financial and entertainment hub of India with over 15 million people.

A Western Railway spokesperson said regular train operations had to be suspended on many routes due to water logging.

Many public as well as private offices were closed early but a large number of office-goers were left stranded on the roads or at railway stations in the absence of any mode of transport.

"I left office at 3.30 pm and somehow reached the Churchgate station to catch a train. I was left stranded there for four hours as all the train operations were suspended," said Vijay Mankad, an executive with a private firm.

"Finally, I had to go back to the office to spend the night there. Hundreds of people couldn't go to home has all transport links have been completely snapped."

The road traffic was also badly affected across the city as most routes were inundated with water. Uprooted trees at many places also worsened the situation for commuters.

Long queues of automobiles were seen on all arterial routes. People waded through waist-high water in some places to reach their homes or places of work.

Mobile and landline telecom operations were also disturbed at many places in the city. The heavy rains, however, did not affect operations at the Bombay Stock Exchange and Reserve Bank of India - the country's central bank.

The situation is likely to worsen in days ahead with the weather bureau forecasting heavy rains through Wednesday and early Thursday.

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