Same Story Every Year: Mumbai Rains Hit Road, Rail And Air Traffic

The rains led to water-logging in parts of south and central Mumbai, leading to major traffic snarls.

Representational image of a fruit vendor pushes his cart through a flooded street in Mumbai. (Photo: AP)

It’s same story every year for Mumbai!

Heavy rains since Friday morning, at a rate of over 50 mm per hour, flooded many parts of India’s financial capital, disrupting rail, road and air traffic. This coincided with a high-tide warning issued for the same day, crippling the drainage system of the city.

The downpour led to massive water-logging in parts of south and central Mumbai as well as eastern and western suburbs, leading to major traffic snarls in the morning peak hour.

Owing to the weather, all arrivals and departures at Mumbai airport are delayed by up to 30 minutes till 8pm.

Heavy rains have lashed Mumbai and adjoining areas. (Photo Courtesy: Pallavi Prasad/ The Quint)

Schools in Dadar, Parel, Santacruz and Marine Lines were forced to send kids back to their homes due to the increasing danger of flooding, with the School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA) refusing to ply buses in the afternoon on account of city-wide water-logging.

High Tide Making Things Worse

Road and Train Services Hit

Traffic crawled at a snail’s pace on major thoroughfares like Eastern Express and Western Express highways and major north-south roads, delaying tens of thousands of commuters.

Suburban train services on Western Railway, Central Railway and Harbour Line ran 15-30 minutes late.

The Central Railway was hit due to flooded tracks near Sion-Kurla. The cascading effect affected the other two lines.

All domestic and international flights to and from Mumbai were reported around 30 minutes delay due to heavy rains, low visibility and air congestion.

Heavy rains causing havoc in Mumbai and adjoining areas. (Photo Courtesy: Pallavi Prasad/ The Quint)

Adjoining Districts of Mumbai Also Flooded

Though there were no diversions or cancellations, there were three go-arounds and consequent delays, airport officials said.

Heavy rains causing chaos in Mumbai and adjoining areas. (Photo Courtesy: Pallavi Prasad/ The Quint)

Besides Mumbai, the adjoining districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad were lashed by heavy rains, slowing traffic on all major routes linking Mumbai with Ahmedabad, Pune, Nashik and Goa.

The Thane Municipal Corporation has sprung into action to tackle any rain related crisis to surface in the city.

The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast very heavy rains over Mumbai and coastal Konkan region over the next 48 hours. As a precaution, all major services like the police, fire brigade, NDRF and others are in a state of high alert. Security personnel have been deployed at low lying areas, while civic bodies of the four cities race against time to develop a contingency plan.

(With agency inputs)