Roads flood, lead to massive traffic jams

Mumbaiites faced a day of panic and frustration with continuous showers in the city worsening the traffic situation in the city on Monday.

Mumbaiites faced a day of panic and frustration with continuous showers in the city worsening the traffic situation in the city on Monday.

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Marmik Mehta, a businessman from Chembur said, “I had to go to Andheri for a meeting. I left from Chembur around 9am and it took me over an hour just to reach Sion which is hardly a ten-minute drive from my office. I decided to come back and postpone the meeting.”

“I left around 8am to go to my office in Sakinaka. But there was severe water logging and traffic congestion on the way. I not only had to return back home but also spend hours at the garage as my car broke down due to the floods,” said S R Ramesh, employed with a private firm in Sakinaka.

According to the traffic police, there was water logging leading to traffic jams at Milan subway, few parts of Kurla, Sion and Matunga, Hindmata, Vile Parle and low lying suburbs in the city.

BEST’s official spokesperson N.A. Walawalkar said that of the 4476 buses supposed to ply, only 3838 did. 122 additional buses were put into service to respond to the challenge of more commuters spilling over from the railways. Many conductors and drivers could not report for work as they could not commute to their respective depots in the absence of trains.

Hindmata junction, Milan Subway, Chembur shell colony, Mahalaxmi Udyan, Andheri subway, Malad Subway, Khar subway, Dr BA Road saw severe traffic congestion. In addition to the rain, potholes on Eastern and Western Express Highways, Gandhi Nagar flyover and Senapati Bapat Marg brought traffic movement to a crawl.