Incessant rain paralysed Mumbai on Tuesday, leaving many parts of the financial capital waterlogged and 22 dead and 94 injured in a wall collapse in the city. In all, 35 lives were lost in rain-related incidents across Maharashtra overnight.
In the other rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, 6 died in a Pune wall collapse, two were drowned after their car was submerged in the Malad subway, three died in a Kalyan school compound wall collapse, one died of electrocution in Vile Parle and one in a wall collapse at Mulund.
The 375.2 mm rainfall in 24 hours till 8 a.m. on Tuesday impacted flight operations, with many international flights diverted and several domestic ones cancelled. Local train services, the lifeline of Mumbai, were also thrown out of gear. After the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast heavy rain for July 2, the authorities declared a holiday in the city and adjoining regions.
Twenty-two died and over 94 were injured as a wall collapsed in Malad. A wall collapse in Kalyan in Thane district resulted in the death of three persons, officials said.
Malad received 183 mm of rainfall between 10 p.m. on Monday and 1 a.m. on Tuesday.
The Central Railway was operating trains only up to Thane on the Central Line and Mankhurd on the Harbour Line, and all local services to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CST), Dadar and Kurla remained suspended in the morning. Services were resumed only at 4.30 p.m.
Waterlogging at the Thane, Mulund, Kurla and Sion stations started late on Monday owing to heavy rainfall. While there were no trains being run between Thane and CST, trains between Kalyan and Thane were operated with delays.
On the western line, Nallasopara station suffered heavy water-logging, owing to which Western Railway (WR) had to impose speed restrictions, operating only one local service between Vasai Road and Virar every 20 minutes. Local services between Vasai Road and Churchgate were running with a delay of 15 minutes. Services were put right at 11.55 a.m. after water receded at Nalasopara.
Twenty-seven trains arriving in the city from within and outside Maharashtra were short terminated. Central Railway cancelled the Ratnagiri-Dadar-Ratnagiri Passenger, the Manmad-Mumbai-Manmad Rajyarani Express, the Mumbai-Pune-Mumbai Intercity Express, the Nanded-Mumbai-Nanded Tapovan Express, the Manmad-LTT-Manmad Express, the Mumbai-Madgaon Tejas Express and the Dadar-Madgaon Janshatabdi Express.
Trains, flights hit
The outstation trains of Western Railway were also affected by the situation in Nalasopara. Western Railway has short-terminated four trains from Rajasthan and Gujarat at Vapi, Dahanu Road and Surat. The cancellation of long-distance and local trains left hundreds of passengers stranded at the CSMT.
A total of 55 flights were diverted and 52 cancelled at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport due to inclement weather.
To add to this, the airport reported 13 flight go-arounds and the cancellation of 42 domestic and 4 (both arrival and departures) international flights.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis cancelled his appointments and rushed to the BMC headquarters. “400 mm rainfall in 3 hours in Mumbai is three to four times the city’s drainage capacity. We are monitoring all the unfortunate accidents in Mumbai, Kalyan and Pune. Directions to evacuate if necessary have been given.”
Compensation promised
Mr. Fadnavis said Mumbai got one month’s rainfall in just three to four days. He also announced a compensation of ₹5 lakh from the State government to the kin of those killed. “Have asked BMC to also give ₹5 lakh compensation to their families,” he said.
IMD on Tuesday evening said that the intensity of the rainfall is likely to decrease during the next 24 hours. Intermittent spells of rainfall and isolated heavy showers likely in city and suburbs. Meanwhile, private weather agency Skymet said Mumbai is at “serious risk of flooding” between July 3 and 5. “Close to 200 mm or more rain per day is likely during this period, which could hamper normal life,” it said.
