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After five days of heavy downpour in Maharashtra throwing normal life off gear in Thane, Palghar and Mumbai, rainfall stopped with local trains on the Western line reportedly running on schedule.
Road, rail services and flights were hit for over three days as Mumbai and many parts of Maharashtra continue to reel under incessant rains for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, 10 July.
Rainfall stopped in Thane and Palghar districts of Maharashtra with local trains on the Western line in Mumbai running on schedule, reported Maharashtra Times.
Following a downpour, the Palghar district's Nalasopara area is severely water-logged at the moment, news agency ANI reported.
Suburban trains are running from Churchgate to Dahanu Road. While services are normal between Churchgate -- Bhayandar and Virar -- Dahanu, the trains are running at a restricted speed between Vasai Road and Virar. All four lines have been opened on the Vasai road-Virar route.
Mumbai, and some parts of the Konkan region will be experiencing rainfall for the next three to four days, Charan Singh of the MET department told ANI. However, the intensity of the rainfall is expected to reduce over this period.
Heavy rainfall is expected to resume between the 13 and 14 of July in these regions, he added. Meanwhile, the Delhi-NCR region may begin to experience heavy rainfall over the next few days.
Although the waterlogging in Nalasopara has reduced in comparison to Tuesday, when many trains were stuck and their passengers stranded, it is yet to reach safe levels.
The Western Railways have tweeted out a list of all the trains which have been short terminated (ST), reversed (EX) and rescheduled.
Several train services across the city have either been cancelled, suspended or short-terminated. According to the Western Railways authorities, trains between Bandra-Vapi, Mumbai Central-Ahmedabad, Indore-Kochuveli have been cancelled or diverted.
Similarly, trains such as the Dadar Superfast Express has been short terminated at Vapi and remain cancelled between Vapi-Dada, while the Jodhpur - Bandra Terminus Surya Nagari Express has been short terminated at Surat and remain cancelled between Surat-Bandra Terminus.
While train services on three lines between Bhayandar and Virar have resumed, they are on restricted speed. Additionally, traffic on the Down fast-line between Bhayandar and is expected to resume once the water levels come down, ANI reports.
The Navy was deployed to evacuate train commuters stranded at the Nallasopara station here due to flooding of railway tracks between Nallasopara and Vasai Road stations.
Following a request from the Western Railway, the Western Naval Command deployed high-chassis vehicles that could traverse the flooded areas and reach the stranded commuters, a Defence spokesperson said.
(With inputs from PTI)
Passengers of 12928 Vadodara Express and many passengers of 12009 Shatabdi Express have been ferried in 11 buses to Naigaon where food has been arranged for them from Mumbai central base kitchen. Remaining passengers who are still stranded in the trains – which will be reversed to Mumbai Central once water level recedes – will be served food in the train.
BJP National Spokesperson Sambit Patra and Maharashtra State Spokesperson Keshav Upadhye were seen wading through waterlogged streets to reach Mumbai BJP's office in Dadar East, reported ANI.
NDRF team rescues 411 stranded passengers from Vadodara express at Nalasopara. Efforts are underway to rescue the rest.
Teams of NDRF and Coast Guards have been approached to provide relief in all possible ways to assist stranded passengers aboard the 12928 Vadodara Express, which is is stuck between Nallasopara and Virar due to the heavy rains.
Food and water, being loaded from Andheri, will be provided to these passengers.
Due to the excessive waterlogging, amounting up to 400mm on the Nalasopara tracks near Mumbai, several long-distance trains from Mumbai have been affected. These are:
Heavy waterlogging was recorded near the Matunga police station, where commuters were seen walking in knee-deep and waist-deep water.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a tweet said that the Disaster Management Cell all the concerned departments were working their hardest to provide every possible assistance to Mumbaikars, in light of the torrential rain.
He added that while local train services were running an average of 15 minutes late, about 11 places in total were reportedly waterlogged since the morning.
Mumbai BJP chief Ashish Shelar raised concerns over the heavy rains plaguing Mumbai, at the State Assembly meeting.
Stating that an emergency holiday should be declared for schools and colleges in the city, he questioned the action taken by the Disaster Management Cell to take control of the situation.
Several schools in Thane and Palghar remained shut on Tuesday, due to the excessively heavy rainfall in these districts.
“Disaster Management has reported that there is no situation of water logging in Mumbai. Concerned authorities are keeping a track of the situation.There's nothing to worry as disaster management is ready to face any situation,” Tawde added, reports ANI.
The Western Railways announced that it is making arrangements for food, water and snacks to passengers that have been stranded due to the delay or cancellation of train services over long distances.
The Railways authorities also requested the assistance of several NGOS, who came through to ensure that the best possible catering services were made available for the stranded passengers.
The railway tracks of Sion Station in Central Mumbai have reportedly been waterlogged following the heavy downpour of rain in the city on Tuesday.
The road outside Elphinstone Station has also been waterlogged.
Gandhi Market, near Sion and Matunga also witnessed waterlogged, deserted roads.
Very high rainfall was recorded in Mumbai’s Nallasopara, following heavy water accumulation in the adjoining areas of tracks, the Western Railways reported.
Commuters travelling via trains on the Central Railways tweeted out their thanks to the latter, for not suspending services despite the torrential rain the city.
Due to the delay and suspension of services on several trains on the Western Railways, the Dabbawalas of Mumbai announced that they will not be carrying out their delivery services on Tuesday, causing havoc for many Mumbaikars across the city.
Meanwhile, trains running from Churchgate to Vasai are also experiencing a delay, the Western Railways authorities announced.
The Indian Meteorological Department on Tuesday, 10 July announced that heavy rainfall is expected at a few isolated places in the districts of Greater Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar between 10 and 13 July.
Due to heavy rains in the city in the early hours of Tuesday, 10 July, local train services between Vasai and Virar have been suspended until further notice, the Western Railways authorities announced on Twitter.
The PRO of Central Railway, AK Jain, has said that services on all the three lines of Central Railway are normal, though a little delay is possible. “Officers & staff have been deputed at low lying areas & are monitoring the situation,” he told ANI as of 2 PM, 9 July.
A journalist travelling to work met with an accident at Kandivali in Mumbai on the western express highway when his two-wheeler lost balance after it hit a pothole on a road submerged under water.
A building named Popular Terraces in Borivali has been vacated as it developed cracks during heavy rainfall.
A 40-year-old woman, Manisha Bhoir, was crushed to death by a speeding private bus after she fell off a two-wheeler that hit a pothole during heavy rains in Kalyan, Thane on 7 July. The CCTV footage of the same has now surfaced.
Here are the numbers for rainfall recorded until now:
According to official updates, Western and Central Railway trains are running with a delay of 15-20 minutes. Visuals from across the city show extreme water-logging on roads and rail tracks with the rain showing no signs of abiding.
Mitaghar in Vasai has been cut off after rain water entered it. Disaster Management team in rubber boats are reaching the village with food packets and water for almost 400 people. Other areas such as Sun City and Evershine City in Vasai are also facing flood-like situations with fire personnel deployed in rubber boats for rescue operations.
Dahanu recorded 354 mm rain in the last 24 hours (between 8.30 am Sunday and 8.30am Monday). This is categorised as “extremely heavy rainfall” by the IMD and is the highest rainfall recorded in the country in the last 24 hours.
Western Railways announces that air conditioned local services will resume from 2.55 PM. It has also resumed Churchgate-bound fast local trains from Nallasopara with restricted speed as flood levels reduced from 180 mm to 130 mm.
Due to waterlogging at Railway colony, S V road, traffic has been closed (both directions):
Meanwhile, heavy duty pumps are being used to pump out water from railway tracks at Dadar, Matunga Road, Goregaon & other locations. Per a statement by Western Railways, all efforts are being made to ensure smooth functioning of suburban services despite very heavy & incessant rainfall. All local trains are running, albeit slowly to maintain caution.
Slo train services have resumed, but with caution, after debris of a wall which collapsed at Sandhurst Road were removed by Railway authorities.
The Maharashtra Education Minister, on 9 July, declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region due to heavy rainfall, ANI reports.
Here is a quick look at visuals from across the city recorded by Mumbaikars out and about on 9 July:
A wall collapsed on a railway line at Sandhurst Road on Central Railway. Dadar-bound slow local trains have been stopped and slow trains have been diverted to fast tracks.
Severe water-logging has been reported from Andheri subway and Dombivli station. Hindmata market has been shut down in view of the flooded streets.
There is very heavy water-logging in city-adjoining areas like Thane, Mira Road and Nallasopara. Trains are running at restricted speed or have been cancelled at Nallasopara due to the presence of water on tracks.
Train services between Kalwa and Mumbra stations on Central Railway have come to a halt due to waterlogging on tracks. Fast trains from Virar to Churchgate are also not operating. 12 trains have been stopped at Virar.
Due to bad weather, operations of private, chartered aircraft and choppers at Juhu aerodrome have been suspended till 3 pm.
Heavy rainfall continued to lash Mumbai city and surrounding areas of Thane, Palghar and Raigad on Monday morning. On 8 July, the city received an average of 108 millimetres of rain, while Dahanu recorded 308 millimetres, according to Skymet weather. Colaba received 170.6 millimetres of rain in between 8:30 am on Sunday and 8:30 am on 9 July, which was its highest for the season. Santacruz received 122 millimetres of rainfall.
According to the International Meteorological Department (IMD), “extremely heavy rainfall” will continue in these parts until 10 July. It also predicts “heavy to very heavy rain” in the Konkan region and Goa.
Water-logging was reported in several low-lying areas like Sion, Andheri, Ghatkopar, Hindmata Circle in Parel, King's Circle in Matunga. As a result, the traffic police were forced to divert traffic, especially BEST buses.
On 7 July, at least 100 people were rescued from a waterfall in Vasai after a 35-year-old man died after being swept away by strong currents in the waterfall. This area recorded a rainfall above 180 mm.
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