Heavy rain on August 29 pummelled Mumbai and adjoining areas, disrupting rail, road and air services and threw life out of gear. Besides the metropolis, the adjoining Navi Mumbai and Thane regions have also been lashed by incessant downpour since the night of August 28, delaying suburban train services and leaving vehicles crawling through waterlogged roads in the low-lying areas. The city airport has been experiencing flight disruptions since morning.
The Met Office has forecast “extremely heavy rainfall” over the next 24 to 48 hours beginning 2 p.m. on August 29 in the western coast of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and parts of Gujarat and Goa.
Traffic jams were reported on all major arterial roads, including the Eastern and Western Express Highway, Sion-Panvel highway and LBS Marg. Waterlogging was reported in the low-lying areas of Parel and Sion. A tree fell on the busy Saat Rasta road, affecting traffic. Suburban services were disrupted with trains on all three lines — western, central and harbour — running late.
Following are the phone and fax numbers of the Disaster Control Rooms:
Maharashtra State: 022-22027990, Fax: 022-22026712
Bandra (Mumbai Suburban district): 022-26514742/26556805, 9833620113
Mumbai-City: 022-22662440/22661239, 9820747298
Here are the updates:
12.30 am: A two-year-old child was killed after two huts adjacent to hers collapsed on her house in Vikhroli on Tuesday evening. Meawhile, three persons are feared dead after drowning in the Kalwa creek on Tuesday night, and police and fire officials are still at the spot.
9.00 pm: Schools and colleges will remain closed tomorrow in view of the MeT department forecasting heavy rains in the metropolis.
8.15 pm: CM Devendra Fadnavis stops toll collection at Mumbai entry points, Bandra-Worli sealink till situation eases in rain-hit city.
7:30 pm: Naval helicopters have been kept on standby to meet any eventuality after heavy rains battered Mumbai and its adjoining areas. Flood rescue teams and divers are also ready for deployment, a Navy spokesperson said.
7:10 pm: “Had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra CM Shri @Dev_Fadnavis regarding the situation due to heavy rains in Mumbai and nearby areas,” Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh has tweeted.
The home minister said he assured the chief minister of all possible help from the central government.
Teams of the National Disaster Response Force have already reached Mumbai for rescue and relief ops, he said.
6:50 pm: Maharashtra Education Minister says schools and colleges in Mumbai to remain shut tomorrow in view of forecast of heavy rain.
5.55 pm: The Mumbai Police tweet: Waterlogging has been cleared and traffic has started moving on the Bandra-Worli sea link — both north and south bound.
5.50 pm: Prime Minister Narendra Modi speaks to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take stock of the rain situation.
5.35 pm: Local trains between Churchgate and Andheri suspended again, just an hour after resumption.
5.30 pm: The Western Railway reschedules several long-distance trains departing from Mumbai.
5 pm: Mr. Fadnavis appeals to people to stay indoors: “I have monitored the situation through CCTV and found that many areas are under water. I request people to stay indoors as roads are jammed and trains stuck. Please look at police advisories and appropriately decide how to return home from work.”
He says as Mumbai was under CCTV surveillance, vehicular movement can be monitored from the traffic control room and the police commissioner’s office.
4.35 pm: Mumbai Police tweet: Traffic closed on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link due to waterlogging at the Worli end.
''If water on the roads is heading up to the level of your tyres, please abandon the car. Being on your two feet may be uncomfortable but safer,'' advise the Mumbai Police. ''If you are still at work, don't panic and leave. A little delay & planned travel may help you better,'' the police add.
A partially submerged BEST bus below the Matunga flyover on Eastern Express Highway in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
4.20 pm: India Meteorological Department Director-General K.J. Ramesh declines to draw any parallel of the situation to that of July 26, 2005, when the city was inundated after being battered by rain and hundreds getting killed. Mumbai recorded 94 cm of rainfall in 24 hours beginning 8.30 am on July 26, 2005. Mr. Rajesh tells PTI in New Delhi that the IMD office in Mumbai was giving updates to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the State government at regular intervals. The IMD had given heavy to very heavy rainfall warning to the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments, he says.
4 pm: Mr. Fadnavis reviews the situation in Mumbai.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visits the State Disaster Management Control Room in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
3.45 pm: According to A.K. Srivastav, head of climate monitoring and analysis, IMD (India Meteoroligical Department) Pune, the “status of the weather system, which has brought heavy showers over the Mumbai region, has been upgraded from ’well marked low pressure’ to ‘depression’”. It means the weather system is set to bring more rain and the Met Office has “predicted an extremely heavy rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours ,” PTI quoted Mr. Srivastav as saying.
People walk on flooded Elphinston Road in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
3.25 pm: According to the Regional Met Centre, Mumbai, in the next three days, heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in districts of North Konkan, namely Greater Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad.
The flooded streets of Hindmata, Parel, Mumbai
3.05 pm: Traffic on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link towards South Mumbai has been closed for some time for clearing the traffic ahead, says Mumbai Police.
2.45 pm: Mumbai IMD head K.S. Hosalikar says that in three hours since 8.30 a.m., Mumbai suburbs recorded a whopping 86 mm of rains, while Colaba recorded around 16 mm of rains. “It’s not a 26/7 (2005) type situation as the cloud cover over Mumbai is not that thick. However, we have issued weather warnings to the disaster units of Maharashtra government and the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation,” IANS quotes Mr. Hosalikar as telling the media. He says the IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rains for at least the next 24 hours all over Maharashtra, especially over the coastal North Konkan, Mumbai and other parts. The IMD warning says “intense precipitation likely to occur over Mumbai city, suburbs, Dahanu and Raigad during the latter part today (August 29)”.
2.30 pm: IMD forecast for Mumbai as on 2 pm:
| Valid for | Forecast |
| 24 hours | Intermittent rain or showers with heavy to very heavy falls at a few places likely and extremely heavy at one or two places likely to occur in city and suburbs. |
| 48 hours | Intermittent rain or showers with heavy to very heavy falls at one or two places likely to occur in city and suburbs. |
2.10 pm: Western Railway tweets: Local services bet Dadar & Dahanu Rd are running though held up bet Churchgate-Dadar due to water logging at EPR-Dadar.
Passengers wait for a train at the flooded Sion station in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
2.05 pm: Seven flights so far have been asked to go around the Mumbai airport. The planes have not been allowed to land due to poor visibility. Three planes have been diverted, says the spokesperson for the airport.
2.00 pm: With the western rail tracks waterlogged, Churchgate bound train services have been halted.
Commuters walking on the flooded track between Sion-Chunabhatti.
1.50 pm: Rainfall data as on 1.30 pm:
Last 24 hours: 203.93mm
Last 12hrs: 110.24mm
Last 6 hrs: 75.94mm
Last 3 hrs: 69.34mm
Last 1 hr: 15.75mm
Last 15 mins: 1.02mm
A 100 mm of rain has been recorded since 8.30 am in Mumbai, says the BMC. Of this, 70 mm came in the last one hour alone.
People walk on a flooded railway track near Sion station in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
1.45 pm: IMD issues a warning of 250 mm rain in the next 24 to 48 hours in Mumbai. The education department of the Thane Municipal Corporation has cancelled classes for afternoon shifts in all civic schools. The BMC appeals to people to step outside only in case of emergency.
“The metropolis has received heavy rainfall since last night. Between 8.30 am and 12 pm today, the city received 85 mm rainfall,” Sudhir Naik, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, tells PTI.
“Step out of homes only if it is too important because waterlogging has been reported from several parts of the city,” he said.
Mr. Naik, however, adds that things are well under control and senior civic officials were keeping a close watch on the situation.
A water-logged street at Malad West in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
1.41 pm: Western Railway says train services have been suspended temporarily between Elphinstone Road and Dadar on all lines from 1.30 pm.
1.35 pm: Mumbai Police tweet: Traffic moving slow at multiple places across the city due to heavy downpour and waterlogging.
1.30 pm: The corridor of the KEM Hospital in Parel is flooded and about 30 patients from one ward have been shifted to higher floors. The ground floor has four wards.
Housekeeping staff struggle to clean the water-logged passage of the ground floor of the KEM hospital at Parel in Mumbai on August 29, 2017.
1.25 pm: Three teams of NDRF have been put on alert and two more teams from Pune will be reaching Mumbai shortly. Harbour line local trains stopped till next announcement. Water-logging has been reported at Chunabhatti, Wadala and Kurla.
INSAT-3D image at noon on August 29, 2017. Courtesy: IMD
1.20 pm: Rainfall data as on 1 pm IST:
Last 24 hours: 203.93 mm
Last 12 hours: 98.81 mm
Last 6 hours: 65.78 mm
Last 3 hours: 58.16 mm
Last 1 hour: 13.71 mm
Last 15 min: 3.30 mm
Top rainfall areas
Kandivali: 12.19 mm
Goregaon: 12.45 mm
Goregaon west: 11.43 mm
Worli: 12.99 mm
Byculla: 12.45 mm
Parel: 15.45 mm
Matunga: 13.97 mm
Memonwada: 10.16 mm
1.15 pm: Due to very heavy and continuous rain, the Central Railway suburban train service suspended on the main line between Parel and Kurla from 12.30 pm and on Harbour line between Vadala Road and Kurla from 12.20 pm. Western Railway services have been stopped.
Check for Western Railway updates here:
1.10 pm: The rainfall, which had been on since August 28, intensified the day after affecting commute by rail and road. Low-lying areas like Vile Parle, Hindmata, Parel, Elphinstone Road, Bandra, Khar and Andheri were flooded by August 29 morning. Railway stations such as Sion and Matunga on the Central Line and Bandra on the Western line are flooded. Several incidents of tree-falling were also reported from across the city, further affecting vehicular movement, reports our correspondent Gautam S. Mengle.
Flooded Pandurang Budhkar Marg at Worli in Mumbai on August 29, 2017. Photo: Special Arrangement
“Traffic is slow moving on the southbound lane of the Eastern Freeway, the B.R. Ambedkar Road, Kherwadi stretch of the Western Express Highway and the Khan Abdul Gaffar Khan Marg at the Worli Sea Face due to heavy rain,” says Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Amitesh Kumar.
While many residents chose to work from home or not to go to work at, several private firms declared an impromptu holiday and allowed employees to leave as early as 12 noon.
