Heavy rain in Mumbai kills four in 24 hours; trains and traffic affected

A 15-year-old boy was among four people killed in Mumbai city and Thane district after heavy rain since Sunday evening. The rail and road traffic was disrupted during rush hours, officials said on Monday.

Two men were killed after a tree collapsed near Fashion Street in South Mumbai Sunday evening, while 18-year-old Nagendra Nagarjun died after he fell into a manhole near Evershine Nagar in Malad (west) and drowned on Monday morning.

Kiran Ghaywat, 15, died after a portion of a wall of a sewerage treatment plant at Vadolgaon, near Ulhasnagar in Thane district, collapsed on their house.

Meanwhile, a wall at an upscale Mumbai complex collapsed Monday morning in Wadala after incessant rain, crushing at least 15 parked cars. Visuals from 32-storey Lloyds estate in Wadala’s Antop Hill showed several cars stuck in debris. No one has been hurt and all residents are safe, a civic official said.

The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Mumbai office has said heavy rainfall will continue in some parts of the city and its suburbs after similar conditions over the weekend.

Train delays

The rains that have been lashing the city over the weekend caused a delay in services on the Western Railway due to a track failure near Bandra station.

“Local trains are running late by 5-10 minutes due to a technical problem at the Bandra station. Inconvenience is regretted,” Sanjay Mishra, divisional railway manager, said on Twitter.

The Western Railway also said trains have been delayed due to low visibility in some areas because of the rains. All mail express trains are expected to reach late at Bandra Terminus, Dadar Terminus and Mumbai Central due to the heavy rain between Virar and Surat.

Traffic snarls

Severe water-logging was reported in parts of Goregaon, Andheri, Kandivali, Sion, Malad, Khar, Wadala, Five Gardens, Chembur and Kurla. Waist-deep water was reported at Postal Colony in Chembur and, knee-length waterlogging witnessed at Vile Parle east near Milan Subway.

Traffic was affected at Khar, Malad and Andheri subway due to waterlogging. Parts of Kurla near the Mithi River and Santacruz Chembur Link Road witnessed severe waterlogging for hours. Motorists had to drive through waterlogged roads in Dadar TT, Parel Junction and Mahim. The situation was worst in parts of western suburbs.

The traffic police have made arrangements to ensure smooth traffic, especially during peak hours, in case of heavy rainfall.

Personnel of the department have been instructed to be prepared in case of a waterlogging owing to mega projects such as Metro construction as more than 2,000 constables and 750 wardens were ordered to be out on roads.

They have also made arrangement on the Western Express Highway, SV Road and Link Road in the western suburbs.

“Commuters are suggested to keep a check on Twitter and radio channels as we will be communicating about the diversions,” said Amitesh Kumar, joint commissioner of police (traffic).

Sunday’s showers brought down temperatures even though humidity levels continued to stay high. The Met department has set 523.1mm as average rainfall that Mumbai usually records in June.

(With agency inputs)