Life in Mumbai on Wednesday was slowly coming back on tracks as rain subsided and hundreds of stranded commuters headed home with the partial resumption of suburban train services, a day after heavy showers brought the city to a halt.
Road traffic, which remained paralysed since Tuesday due to water-logging and high tide, was also back to normal.
However, the Maharashtra government offices and educational institutions in the city and adjoining areas remained closed, as declared by the State administration as a precautionary measure on Tuesday evening.
No substantial rainfall was been reported from any part of the city or outskirts and the morning was bright and the skies looked less cloudy. - pti
Mumbai is braces for another day of hardships .
Schools and colleges have been asked to remain shut by authorities .
The Indian Meteorological Department had forecast “heavy to very heavy rains” in entire coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra, including Mumbai. Similar wet conditions shall prevail in the Konkan districts of Palghar, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg over the 48-72 hours from 8 am.
Besides Konkan, heavy rains were expected in central Maharashtra and Marathwada region, in neighbouring Goa and Gujarat’s Kutchh and Saurashtra regions starting from Wednesday till Sunday.
Water level started receding on August 30, 2017 in Mithi river, which was flowing close to danger mark the day before.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has moved in to clear roads which have become slushy and strewn with garbage, and are also gearing up to tackle rush of patients in municipal hospitals.
“Our first and foremost task is to clear the road traffic which is facing hurdles owing to silt and garbage which has got collected on street several places.
“People have left their cars on roads, so (removing) them is among our first priority,” said Sudhir Naik, Deputy Municipal Commissioner.
No lessons learnt from the 2005 deluge in Mumbai.
Here are the updates:
4:30 pm: Maharashtra Parliamentary Affairs Minister Girish Bapat has appealed to people stranded in south Mumbai for unavailability of transport following heavy rains, to take shelter in his official residence for time being.
In his appeal made through Facebook, the BJP leader, who hails from Pune, said that people stranded in areas such as Fort, and at Mantralaya can rest or stay in his official residence ‘Dnyaneshwari’, located at Malabar Hill, till the situation shows improvement.
Cars being swept away in the Dahisar river in Mumbai on August 30, 2017.
4 pm: Officials say the death toll in the August 29 deluge is at least five including two children. Also, a dozen people, mainly senior citizens, are reportedly missing in different parts of Mumbai though many are suspected as ‘lost’ or temporarily not able to communicate.
BMC Disaster Control says two-year-old Kalyani Gopal Jangam was crushed under a wall which crashed during rains in Jankalyan Nagar in Vikhroli East. Her parents, Gopal Jangam and Chhaya, were injured in the incident and admitted to the Mahatma Phule Hospital. In another incident in Vikhroli’s Suryanagar, two persons were killed when a portion of a house collapsed following the torrential rains. An 18-month-old infant, Nikhil Satyendra, and a 40-year-old man, Suresh A. Maurya, succumbed during treatment at Rajawadi Hospital in adjoining Ghatkopar suburb.
In Ghatkopar’s Ambedkar Nagar, 45-year-old Rameshwar Tiwari was killed while his wife Manju and their minor children Krishna and Ronak were injured when a wall of their home crashed on them.
A dozen people, mainly senior citizens, are reportedly missing in different parts of Mumbai though many are suspected as ‘lost’ or temporarily not able to communicate.
Their anxious relatives have sent social media messages with pictures seeking information on their near-and-dear ones while making police complaints.
3.45 pm: Police say four persons, including a three-year-old girl, were washed away in separate incidents in nearby Palghar district. Out of the four, the body of the minor girl has been recovered so far, Palghar Police say.
“The three-year-old victim was travelling on a motorcycle with her kin. When their vehicle reached Waghoba Khind, it skidded and the girl fell into the flood waters. She was washed away and her body was recovered later,” police say.
3.05 pm: Cab hailing service Ola has announced free shuttle services for stranded citizens in the city. The shuttles will be plying across major routes in the city such as Airport to Andheri Station and Vashi to Ghatkopar, to and fro, Ola says statement. Along with the Shuttle services, Ola Share has also been made available for free till 4 pm today on the app for all customers, it adds. Free rides are only up to 15 km and after that Micro fares will be applicable.
Following criticism from passengers on overcharging yesterday, peak pricing has been withdrawn across all categories, Ola adds.
Constant updates on the shuttle routes currently available and further updates on emergency services for the city are available on http://bit.ly/OlaMumbai.
3 pm: Mumbai Police have taken note of cars and other vehicles left behind and offered free towing service. “If your car is out of fuel/stranded #Diall100 or 8454999999 or tweet us for free towing till the nearest fuel pump or garage #mumbairains,” the Mumbai Police tweet.
Residents look at a car pileup at Borivli East in Mumbai on August 30, 2017, the day after rain ravaged the city.
Cars and other vehicles left behind by their owners due to flooding of streets, running out of fuel and breakdowns are causing traffic snarls and the BMC is tackling this issue on a priority basis.
2 pm: A day after copious rains, the civic authorities have moved to clear roads which have become slushy and strewn with garbage, and are also gearing up to tackle rush of patients in municipal hospitals.
Cars and other vehicles left behind by their owners due to flooding of streets, running out of fuel and breakdowns are causing traffic snarls and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is tackling this issue on a priority basis.
1.30 pm: Commissioner of Police "proud" of his team
The Mumbai Commissioner of Police D. D. Padsalgikar tweeted that he is "proud to lead a force of dedicated officers & men."
01.14 pm: Working in close coordination with BMC, says Western Railway
The Western Railway said that they are closely coordinating with the BMC and disaster management cell to minimize the impact and tweeted "On direction of MR Suresh Prabhu all efforts are being taken to provide relief to passengers of Mumbai suburban in wake of heavy rains. We are working in close coordination with BMC and disaster management cell to ensure all possible measures."
The Mumbai suburban train services which were suspended on all three lines, will be resumed in phases
"Additional pumps have been put in for bringing water levels down in heavy water logged areas," it added. "By all these efforts, services on Western Railway was resumed yesterday at 23.58 hours and stranded passengers evacuated. Suburban lines on Western Railway are made operational and services running. Services are running between Thane-Karjat, Thane-Titwala on main line. Vashi-Panvel on harbour line, Thane-Vashi on trans-harbour line."
12.40 pm: Companies cancel events to be held today
Companies have either postponed or cancelled their engagements in Mumbai today in anticipation of disruption to normal life due to adverse weather conditions.
Skoda Auto cancelled the product unveiling event of its maiden performance car in India scheduled to be held at Raymond Race Tracks in Thane. Similarly, a Practo team which was scheduled to visit Mumbai from Delhi cancelled the engagements fearing disruption of air service.
12.26 pm: Vegetable prices soar
Vegetable vendors reopen their shopes even though very few customers were seen in the morning hours.
Vegetable prices have gone up by ₹5 to ₹10 a kg in Mumbai as supplies were restricted. Prices would rise sharply tomorrow in case of heavy rains today, said the vendors.
12.03 pm: Suburban railway lines down again
Central and Harbour lines down again, as trains stranded overnight have developed snags. Efforts are on to haul them away.
Four local trains on the mainline and three local trains on the Harbour line have been marooned. The trains are being moved to car-shed. The local trains are expected to begin in an hour. "Nothing to panic, local train serviced will begin shortly," said Mr. Udasi
11.25 am: Highest one-day rainfall in Santa-Cruz (mm)
The Santa Cruz meteorological station recorded a rainfall of 297.6 mm by 6 pm on Tuesday. This is the eight-highest single-day rainfall the city had received during the monsoon season (June - Sept) in the last 43 years.
11.15 am: Shiv Sena lauds BMC
The Shiv Sena, which rules the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, said in an editorial in party mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ that the the civic body ensured that the situation did not “go out of hand“.
“The BMC’s preparedness to tackle the natural calamity ensured that the situation did not go out of hand. The civic body should be complimented for this. Even after heavy rains, no big untoward incident has taken place,” the Sena said. “Mumbai and Maharashtra have always received the blessings of Ganpati. We believe that God will ease this trouble as well,” it added.
11.05 am: Dabbawalas to resume services tomorrow
Mumbai’s famed ‘dabbawalas’ today cancelled their delivery of over two lakh tiffins to office goers in the city in view of the disruption of suburban rail services. Dabbawalas, who had ventured out on their task yesterday, returned home only this morning after being stranded at railway stations. They will resume their services tomorrow.
10.56 am: BEST to ply additional buses in the Colaba-Thane route
The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) has been operating the extra buses since yesterday to ferry commuters stranded at various places, an official of the civic undertaking said.
BEST buses still to be removed to make way for traffic near Mithi river on LBS Marg, Kurla
“We ran 109 extra buses on important routes yesterday and today too , we are running additional buses on the Colaba-Thane route,” BEST spokesperson Manoj Varade said.
10.45 am: Two bodies were washed away and found in a nullah at Thane after yesterday's torrential rain.
Authorities recover the bodies washed away and found in a nullah at Thane.
10.30 am: Normalcy is being restored as the water recedes slowly. The traffic jam between Sion and Matunga, caused by abandoned vehicles, is being cleared. Delays in train services also are due to the fact that trains that were stranded since yesterday are being moved off the tracks.
The operations in the Mumbai airport have resumed with a delay of 15 to 20 minutes.
Mumbai hospitals flooded, patients moved up.
10.18 am: The Central railways tweets out the list of long-distance trains re-scheduled or cancelled following Tuesday's derailments and the rain .
09.49 am: Harbor line is still out of service, says our correspondent. Chief PRO of the Central Railways Sunil Udasi said that since there is still water-logging at Kurla, it may take some more time for the Harbour line trains to get back on track .
Central line service abruptly delayed and train is stranded at Currey Road station.
09.35 am: The State Disaster Management Authority has said rains in the megapolis, which came to a standstill following incessant downpour, are likely to be lesser on Wednesday. “The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall for today. However, it is likely to be lesser compared to yesterday,” a senior SDMA official said. Torrential rains pounded the metropolis throughout the day yesterday. The city gauged a whopping 298 mm of rainfall, the highest in a day in August since 1997.
09.25 am: Navy opens community kitchens and food counters at various locations in Mumbai to provide relief to rain-affected people. Indian Navy for you...Anytime Anywhere Everytime", tweets the Navy spokesperson, adding that community kitchens are providing food at Churchgate, Byculla, Parel, CST, Worli, Tardeo, Mumbai Central,Dadar, Mankhurd, Chembur, Malad and Ghatkopar.
09.18 am: The Met Department predicts light to moderate rainfall in the city today. As of 5.30 am today, Colaba received 110.6 mm of rainfall while Santacruz registered 328.0 mm.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police has tweeted that the first train from CST commenced at 08.22 to harbour line and 08.32 to Karjat. The Kurla to CST train started at 08.08.
“The first special train for Kalyan left CSMT at 7.26 am and the second one at 7.44 am,” said Sunil Udasi, chief PRO of the CR. He said services on other sections like Kalyan to Karjat, Kalyan to Titwala and Thana to Kalyan were also operational.
09.05 am: Passengers for long distance travel are seen stranded at Dadar station. Many trains have been cancelled or re-scheduled.
#rainhosts open their homes for stranded Mumbaikars.
Passengers for long distance travel are seen stranded at Dadar station
09.00 am: Suburban train services on Western Railway resumed around midnight and those on the Central Railway are still struggling to come on track. It is expected that the suburban train services which were suspended on all three lines, will be resumed in phases.
(With inputs from PTI)
