Rain-drenched weekend brings city to a crawl

The city and adjoining Thane district managed to stay afloat, albeit barely, as heavy rain on Saturday disrupted rail and road traffic, causing inconvenience to many commuters.

The city and adjoining Thane district managed to stay afloat, albeit barely, as heavy rain on Saturday disrupted rail and road traffic, causing inconvenience to many commuters.

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Trains were affected for hours as rainwater inundated the tracks. Services on Central Railways were running late by at least 15 minutes, while traffic on Western line was also slowed down.

Water was seen on the railway tracks at the Sion-Matunga-Chunnabhatti stretch. “Although the trains were running, they were quite late,” said a Central Railway official on condition of anonymity as he is not authorised to speak to media.

Complaints of waterlogging were reported Hindmata, Parel, JVPD, Goregaon, Chembur, Khar and Andheri. Also, road traffic was slow and snarls were reported in several areas.

“Water entered many shops and the traffic was barely moving in the afternoon,” said Sachin Gala, a resident of Hindmata. “However, everything was normal by evening after the rain receded.”

The downpour and high intensity winds uprooted 16 trees in the city and two tree collapsed near Gadkari Rangayatan and Wagle Estate in Thane. However no injuries were reported.