Downpour throws rail, road traffic out of gear

Office-goers face tough time getting to work; several areas waterlogged

Mumbai: Heavy rain battered Mumbai and its suburbs on Tuesday morning, affecting students and office-goers after many parts of Matunga, Hindmata, Andheri, Sion, Dadar, and Powai were inundated.

In the 24-hour span from 8:30 a.m. on Monday, the Colaba Observatory recorded 67 mm of rain, while Santacruz Observatory recorded 39 mm. Between 11 p.m. on Monday and 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the Colaba observatory recorded 56.8 mm of rain and Santacruz recorded 12.8 mm.

This resulted in traffic snarls at several areas, with vehicles queued up on roads.

Office-goers had a tough time getting to work, as the rain crippled the transport system in some parts. Central Railway services, which includes main and harbour lines, were delayed by 30 minutes, while Western Railway trains was running late by about 10 minutes.

A senior government official said that most employees at Mantralaya walked in late. “Given that it has been raining heavily, we are lenient towards the staff,” an official of the General Administration Department said.

Bank employee Soumya Roy, who was stranded on her way to work at Churchgate, told

The Hindu , “The monsoon has its own pros and cons. While on the one hand, rain paves way for pleasant weather, the bitter reality is that it also brings the city to a halt.” Ms. Roy and many of her colleagues have kept sets of spare clothes in the office to deal with the situation.

In just one hour between noon and 1 p.m., Dadar recorded 11mm rainfall, Vikhroli 24 mm, Kurla 14 mm, Dindoshi 18 mm, Goregaon and Andheri 13 mm, BKC 11 mm and Bandra 10 mm.

“The rain led to waterlogging in many areas, such as at Gandhi Market in Sion and near Tilak Bridge in Dadar. Some BEST buses had to be diverted,” Vishal Gupte, a student travelling from Dadar to Ghatkopar, said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) disaster management control cell said the heavy showers between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. led to waterlogging in 10 locations: six in the eastern suburbs and four in the island city. Six tree fall complaints were registered with the cell since Monday night.

The regional centre of the India Meteorological Department, Mumbai, forecast heavy rain at isolated places in the next 24 hours, ending Wednesday.

There was a high tide warning of 4.81 metres for 2.39 p.m., which passed without any incident.

K.S. Hosalikar, Deputy Director General, IMD, told The Hindu , “The suburbs of Mumbai have witnessed heavy rainfall in the past 24 hours. This is likely to continue for the upcoming week. We have forecast high tide and thunder showers for the next five days in Mumbai and all of Maharashtra.”

According to the regional weather inference report issued by the IMD, the southwest monsoon has further advanced into remaining parts of north Arabian Sea.