Mumbai rains: ₹10 crore apartments in the financial capital become ‘river facing’ after spell of intense rainfall

Heavy rainfall in Mumbai leaves commuters returning home from office stranded, leads to widespread water-logging and traffic disruptions

Five hours of heavy rainfall in Mumbai, India's financial capital which is the costliest real estate market in the country where apartments are sold for almost ₹1.50 lakh per sq ft and above, caught citizens returning from office unawares. It also led to widespread water logging and traffic disruptions.

Mumbai rain live updates: Five hours of heavy rainfall in Mumbai, India's financial capital which is the costliest real estate market in the country where apartments are sold for almost  ₹1.50 lakh per sq ft and above, caught citizens returning from office unawares. ( (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo))

While the monsoon is expected to retreat by the first half of October, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Maharashtra, Konkan and Goa predicting heavy rainfall.

On September 25, five hours of around 200 mm rainfall resulted in water logging in several areas of the city that disrupted traffic and railway services. Several people returning from the office were left stranded.

Heavy rains in the city throw life out of gear every monsoon season. This, say some property experts, impacts both property values and rentals in the city.

Rain disrupts life in Bandra Kurla Complex, the country's costliest commercial district

Several commuters returning from offices located in BKC, the city’s most expensive central business district (CBD), were caught unawares after heavy showers disrupted life in the financial capital.

BKC commands a per sq ft rent in the range of ₹300 to ₹500, In some cases, this has touched more than ₹500 per sq ft to ₹700 per sq ft, according to local brokers.

Several government offices, including that of GST, Reserve Bank of India, Income Tax Department, Family Court have their premises in BKC. The US Consulate is also located in BKC near the Jio Convention Centre. Luxury hotels Sofitel and Trident are also in BKC.

Prominent multinational firms that have their offices in BKC include Jio, Apple, Netflix, Google, Facebook, Amazon, National Stock Exchange, Standard Chartered Bank, WeWork, CISCO, Pfizer, Spotify, Blackstone among several others.

However, several employees returning from their offices in BKC were stranded on September 25 after heavy rains threw life out of gear in the city. "I tried booking a cab in the evening but to no avail. There were no auto rickshaws available and the only option we had was to walk to Bandra station, which was not possible due to heavy rainfall," an employee, not wishing to be named and working with a real estate consultancy firm, told HT.com

"There is a problem of getting cabs even on normal days during evening peak hours but on September 25 several of us working in BKC reached home at midnight. Anticipating these problems, several offices in the area had asked employees to work from home today following a travel advisory issued by the authorities," said the employee.

Another employee working in BKC said, " BKC has now touched a saturation point and has become overcrowded. The only thing that can help ease travel to BKC are the two Metro corridors which are likely to be operational soon,"

₹10 crore apartments in the western suburbs became ‘river facing’ after the city receives spell of heavy rainfall

Several commuters took to social media on September 25 as water logging was reported on the Western Express Highway (WEH) in Goregaon east near Oberoi Mall. Citizens complained of vehicular congestion after water logging was reported near Oberoi Mall.

Ankit Arora, a resident of Borivali who plans to upgrade from 1 BHK apartment to 2 BHK said that no budget is enough to ensure that one can reach home safely during heavy rainfall.

"There are 3 and 4 BHK apartments that are being sold in Goregaon for ₹10 crore and above and ₹3 to ₹5 crore in Borivali, but a few hours of heavy rainfall has disrupted traffic and led to waterlogging. I took four hours to reach home yesterday, which usually takes me two hours on a bad day from BKC. No matter how much budget you have or how much you are ready to pay to buy an apartment in Mumbai, you cannot guarantee that you would reach home safely after heavy showers," said Arora.

Real estate consultants point out that waterlogging is a major factor that impacts India's costliest real estate market. Both property and rental values are 10% to 20% less in areas where waterlogging is reported every year, they said.

On September 25, several areas like Dadar TT, Sewri railway station, Sion, Kurla railway station, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Swasthik , Mankhurd railway station, Goregaon, Andheri and Malad subway among others reported water logging in Mumbai, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC).