Not much rain in Mumbai, but problems pour

In what seemed like a repeat of June 19, the rain on Tuesday yet again managed to throw public transport in Mumbai — the Central and Western Railway as well as BEST buses — out of gear. The difference this time, however, was the rain wasn’t as heavy as last month.

In what seemed like a repeat of June 19, the rain on Tuesday yet again managed to throw public transport in Mumbai — the Central and Western Railway as well as BEST buses — out of gear. The difference this time, however, was the rain wasn’t as heavy as last month.

The western suburbs received 68.55mm of rain between 8am and 4pm on Tuesday, the eastern suburbs got 64.86mm, while the island city received 33.20mm.

While 120 suburban trains on the CR and WR were cancelled because of waterlogging at Kurla, Matunga, Chunabhatti and Bandra, more than 30 Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) bus services were diverted during morning peak hours. “We can understand if the system collapses because of heavy rainfall, but on Tuesday there was hardly any rain,” said Rohit Das, Bandra resident.

The slow line suburban services on the CR came to a standstill at 10.05am, as the water on the tracks between Sion and Matunga went above the permissible level. The services on the fast track, too, came to halt at 10.20am. The services were restored around 10.40am.

Confirming the disruption, a press release issued by the CR said, “Continuous rainfall since early morning and subsequent waterlogging at Sion and Chunabhatti delayed the main and harbour line services by 15-25 minutes.”

Apart from 50 WR suburban trains between Churchgate and Virar, nearly 20 trains between Virar and Dahanu stations were suspended from 6am to 1pm owing to waterlogging and displacement of ballast at certain places between Boisar and Palghar station.

The suburban services on the Churchgate-Virar section were disrupted because of signal failure at Bandra from 10.30am to 12pm, which delayed around 100 suburban services. “Flooding at Bandra affected the train services on the slow line for 15-20 minutes,” said Sharat Chandrayan, chief public relation officer.

Manoj Varade, assistant public relation officer, BEST, said, “Some services were diverted in the morning, but were restored by evening, as the rain subsided. None of the services were cancelled.”