Mumbai Comes To Stand Still Yet Again As Heavy Rains Continue For Second Day

Heavy rains pounded Mumbai city and its suburbs for the second day today, disrupting flight operations at the Mumbai airport and delaying suburban train services in the financial capital.

According to an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) disaster management cell, no untoward incident was reported after the incessant downpour.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been instructed to remain closed today given heavy rains.

"Several parts of the metropolis, including South Mumbai, Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri and Bhandup, received heavy rainfall. However, no untoward incident has been reported so far from any part of the city," he said.

The Mumbai Police has warned of a high tide at 12.03 pm and 6.04 pm today.

From 8.30 am yesterday to 5.30 am today, the Colaba observatory recorded 210 mm rain, while the Santacruz observatory recorded 303.7 mm rain in the period, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Flight operations at the Mumbai airport were affected due to heavy rains and low visibility.

The skidding of a SpiceJet aircraft on the main runway (09/27) last night compounded the problem further as it forced the private airport operator to shift operations to the secondary runway, which can carry out limited operations.

Suburban train services were running late by 10 to 15 minutes, an official said. The trains witnessed lesser crowd today as many people proffered to remain indoors due to the heavy rain forecast.

According to Mumbai Police, the Harbour Line train services came to a halt for a brief period in the early hours today but later resumed. Central Railway's chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi said a few short-destination local trains had to be cancelled yesterday night to streamline the services.

The long distance trains which were regulated and stranded at various locations due to heavy water-logging at Nallasopara, Virar have been cleared, WR said in a statement.

Buses were running normal and there were no diversions in the routes, Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) spokesperson Hanumant Gofane said.

An IMD official said that the Santacruz observatory recorded 225.3 mm rain from 8.30 am to 11.30 pm last night. This quantity falls under the weather category of 'extremely heavy rain' (204.5 mm and above), he said. The observatory recorded over 100 mm in just three hours (5.30-8.30pm), the official added.

Mumbai recorded its second highest September rain in a span of 12 hours yesterday, BMC officials said.

The rainfall recorded at BMC's automatic weather stations between 8 am and 10 pm included Nariman Point (88mm), Worli (110mm), Chembur (112mm), Mulund (94mm), Andheri (208mm), Bandra (128mm) and Borivli (204mm).

The MeT department has predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall till tomorrow. All the agencies concerned have been put on high alert to deal with any eventuality.

(PTI)