Heavy rain on Friday caused rainwater accumulation in low-lying areas at the time of the high tide, claimed the life of a 21-year-old man and threw city transport out of gear before letting up in the latter half of the day.
The Mumbai Police said Mehboob Sayyed, a resident of Sharif Nagar in Govandi, drowned around 3 p.m. Senior PI Balasaheb Jadhav, Shivaji Nagar police station, said, “Sayyed was playing in the rain with several youth from the locality, and jumped into the nullah for a swim. He got stuck in the water and went under, after which we were informed. The fire brigade, too, was informed, and his body was found around two hours later.” Mr. Jadhav said that an Accidental Death Report had been filed in the matter.
Civic officials said the city recorded 60mm of rainfall in four hours, and a high tide of 4.5 metres added to complications. Rains were heaviest between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m., inconveniencing morning commuters.
The rains also caused several mishaps and tree-falls, although no serious casualties or fatalities were reported.
A civic official said, “A part of the fourth floor and the water storage tank of Anand Vihar building on 20th Road in Khar and a ground-plus- one residential structure in Shivaji Nagar collapsed on Friday afternoon. No one was seriously injured in either incident.
There were also 26 cases of trees or branches falling.”
Trains affected
Railways officials said water began accumulating on the tracks at stations including Thane, Kurla, Sion and Vidyavihar by 11.00 a.m., and tracks at Sion railway station were submerged under six inches of water within the next 30 minutes, making it impossible for trains to move.
Services on the Up and Down slow lines between Thane and the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus were disrupted from 11.30 a.m. to 12.05 p.m. due to water-logging at Sion. Services on the fast, Harbour and Trans-Harbour lines were 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule, and commuters were permitted to travel by Express or Mail trains between Kalyan and CST.
Water also collected on the tracks at Thane station’s platform number one, and no trains were available for around two hours till the water receded. Commuters were stuck in trains that stopped between stations for over an hour due to suspension of services.
The half-an- hour gap in services had a cascading effect on train traffic till evening, with slow trains running behind schedule. Trains on the Western Line were running late by 20 to 25 minutes, said commuters.
Water-logging hits roads
Accumulating water in several low-lying areas hit road traffic, with the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) receiving reportsof water-logging in Sion, Pratiksha Nagar, Hindmata, King’s Circle, Mahalakshmi, Byculla, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Chunabhatti and Kherwadi. Manhole covers were opened all over the city and civic officials were deployed to prevent untoward incidents.
Traffic was diverted on several major roads in these areas as water levels on the roads were too high for vehicles to negotiate safely.
Traffic police officials said the worst traffic jams were reported at the Ram Nagar subway near Vakola, D.N. Nagar in Andheri, Parel, the King’s Circle-Matunga junction and Phoenix Mall in Kurla.
Flights delayed
Flight operations at Mumbai Airport were impacted due to low visibility and heavy rain, which slowed down air traffic movement and led to delays of around 30 minutes. Three incoming flights in the morning were asked to circle around till visibility improved. “Visibility was fluctuating,” an airport official said.
A Jet Airways flight from Raipur was diverted to Baroda, but was flown back to Mumbai in the afternoon as conditions improved.
