Mumbai rains: Santacruz records 206.6 mm downpour in six hours; Mithi River overflows, train and flight services hit

Heavy rains continuously lashed the streets of Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, leading to waterlogging in several areas, and affecting flight and train services.

The India Meterological Department’s (IMD) Santacruz observatory recorded 206.6 millimetres of rains between 8.30 am and 2.30 pm on Wednesday. The Met department also issued a ‘red alert’ for the city, its suburbs, Thane and Palghar till Thursday, and asked the authorities to be prepared to handle any situation.

Low pressure over the Bay of Bengal has resulted in torrential showers in Mumbai city, suburbs, Thane and Palghar, a weather official was quoted as saying by PTI.

Due to the overflowing of the Mithi River, over 1,400 people were shifted from Kranti Nagar in Kurla to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) shelter. Teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and Indian Navy took part in the rescue and relief operations.

The residents around Mithi River have been evacuated temporarily to a safer BMC shelter. We are grateful for the @NDRFHQ and @indiannavy for always standing by the MCGM staff in relief and rescue operations #MumbaiRain #MCGMUpdates pic.twitter.com/Oo6wBxVFKL

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) September 4, 2019

The Union railway ministry claimed that over 4,500 people were moved to safer places due to trains being held up in certain areas.

Due to incessant and heavy rains, water level rose above track level leading to suspension of services in some parts of mumbai suburban section.
Some trains held up enroute. Around 4500 passengers were quickly & safely escorted/evacuated. Buses arranged for them. pic.twitter.com/utqecudOVL

— Ministry of Railways (@RailMinIndia) September 4, 2019

Skymet Weather tweeted that apart from Mumbai and its suburbs, intermittent rain will continue with a few heavy spells over Dhule, Gadchiroli, Gondiya, Jalgaon, Jalna, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Nandurbar, Nashik, Palghar, Pune, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sangli, Satara, Thane, Wardha, Washim and Yavatmal districts for the next 6-12 hours from Wednesday evening. IMD deputy director general (western region) KS Hosallikar tweeted that the Doppler Weather Radar and satellite images indicated the persistence of a system that is responsible for rainfall over the Arabian Sea.

Latest DWR and satellite images indicate persistence of the system over Arabian sea.
Last one hour no significant rainfall activity noticed in Mumbai and around as seen from plot.
Rainfall likely to continue after a break.
TC pic.twitter.com/O6qkuStloW

— K S Hosalikar (@Hosalikar_KS) September 4, 2019

Local and long distance trains services were severely affected on Wednesday.

For a few hours, Western Railway suspended trains on slow lines between Churchgate and Vasai Road due to water logging at Matunga Road. Central Railway had suspended services between CSMT and Thane on main line, CSMT and Vadala/Andheri/Goregaon, Vadala and Mankhurd on harbour line, Belapur and Kharkopar on the fourth corridor.

In view of the water logging on tracks at Nallasopara-Virar, 12951 Rajdhani Express and 12953 August Kranti Rajdhani Express were rescheduled to depart an hour late from Mumbai Central.

Thousands of commuters faced issues while travelling as waterlogging in several parts of the city — including Bandra Kurla Complex, Dadar, Sion, and Andheri — led to traffic congestion. In the evening, Western Express Highway witnessed a massive traffic jam between Santacruz and Goregaon, while vehicular movement on most of Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road was also affected due to heavy rains.

BMC posted a list of shelters for those stranded due to rains across the city.

#Mumbaikars , if stranded in the #MumbaiRains please follow this thread, for a list of shelters, you could make home till the water recedes. We will make sure you are taken good care of. #ThreadOfCare #AtMumbaisService

— माझी Mumbai, आपली BMC (@mybmc) September 4, 2019

Operations at the Mumbai airport were reportedly hit due to the downpour and poor visibility levels. Air India alerted its passengers about the possible delay in flights from the city. It also waived all penalties for Wednesday for domestic and international flights.

#FlyAI : Passenger Alert !!
Due to heavy rains in Mumbai, applicable penalties of re-issuance,date change,no-show,cancellation and refund charges
for travel from/ to Mumbai (BOM) for both Domestic and International flights,stand waived on all tickets for travel on 04th Sep.19.

— Air India (@airindia) September 4, 2019

Indigo also offered rescheduling/cancellation fee waiver to passengers traveling to or from Mumbai till Thursday.

#6ETravelAdvisory: Due to #MumbaiRains, we're offering rescheduling/cancellation fee waiver (fare difference, if any is applicable) to passengers traveling to/fro Mumbai till tomorrow Sep 05th, 2019.

Stay safe and keep a tab on your flight status. https://t.co/3Kyc1Yp8nB

— IndiGo (@IndiGo6E) September 4, 2019

With inputs from agencies