Mumbai rain: Several areas water-logged; CR cancels mega block on Central line; cracks appear in Ghatkopar bridge

Heavy rain continued to lash Mumbai city on Sunday, after which several areas faced severe water-logging, traffic was diverted along many routes, and railway services were partially affected. [caption id=“attachment_4691291” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Water-logging at the Hindmata Circle in Mumbai’s Parel area. Firstpost/Shraddha Chowdhury[/caption] There were comparatively fewer reports of congestion on roads as the volume of traffic is lower on Sundays. However, severe water-logging in Sion, Andheri, Ghatkopar, Hindmata Circle in Parel, King’s Cirlce in Matunga and several other areas forced the Mumbai Traffic Police to divert traffic. A car was washed away into a canal near the Andheri subway. In Kurla, a portion of a three-storey building collapsed, though no injuries were reported. A rail overbridge in Vasai was also closed for traffic. Cracks in Ghatkopar bridge Authorities were forced to divert traffic from the Ghatkopar rail overbridge after noticing cracks in the structure. This is the third such incident this week. On 3 July, a rail overbridge at the Andheri station collapsed. A woman, who was critically injured in the mishap,  succumbed to her injuries  on Saturday. The very next day, the bridge at Grant Road was closed for traffic after cracks were noticed. On Sunday, BEST diverted 22 bus routes after the rail overbridge in Ghatkopar was closed to traffic from early morning.  In a letter on Saturday, the Central Railway told Mumbai civic authorities that the bridge was in bad condition and needs urgent repair works,  NDTV reported. A “dangerous” rail overbridge in Vasai was shut for traffic, according to The Times of India. The bridge connects the eastern side with the west and has been shut down since midnight.

Yesterday late night Ghatkopar Andheri Link Road Road over Bridge on railway tracks near PantNagar closed as minor cracks observed by Railway & BMC pic.twitter.com/0wMTQAkRNa

— Kirit Somaiya (@KiritSomaiya) July 8, 2018

More heavy rainfall predicted Deputy Director General (Western Region) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) KS Hosalikar said the weather department was expecting widespread rainfall in the region till Wednesday, explaining that the strengthening westerly winds were responsible for the heavy rain at present. “In the coming days, the intensity of rainfall is expected to increase over Mumbai and its surrounding areas as the low pressure system on the east coast is likely to intensify the offshore trough extending from Gujarat to Kerala, leading to heavy to very heavy rainfall till Wednesday,” the met department said. Last week, the IMD had issued a warning for “ heavy to extremely heavy rainfall ” along the Konkan Coast over the weekend, but on Saturday, it said there would be heavy showers in Mumbai till Wednesday. Earlier, it had also warned of “heavy to very heavy” rain in Nagpur, Aurangabad, Nanded, Akola, Wardha and Chandrapur. Local train services Suburban rail services are running on the Western, Central and Harbour lines. Earlier in the day, the Central Railway had announced a mega block between Vidyavihar and Byculla from 11.20 am to 4.20 pm for maintenance work along the ‘slow’ tracks but cancelled it later “in view of bad weather/heavy rains”. However, mega block on the Harbour line between Kurla and Vashi remained in place till 4.20 pm. Harbour line services from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) towards Panvel, Vashi, Belapur and vice-versa were suspended between 10.20 am to 3.41 , but special trains functioned from CSMT to Kurla and Vashi to Panvel during the block. Slow trains leaving Ghatkopar, towards CSMT from 10.58 am to 4.24 pm were diverted to the ‘fast’ line between Vidyavihar and Byculla stations, halting at Kurla, Sion, Matunga, Dadar, Parel, and further re-diverted to the ‘slow’ line at Byculla. ‘Fast’ and ‘semi-fast’ trains from CSMT between 10.16 am and 2.54 pm halted only at Ghatkopar, Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, and Diva stations, apart from the respective scheduled halts. However, they ran at least 20 minutes late.

In view of bad weather/heavy rains, Mega block on Up local line between Vidyavihar - Byculla from 11.20 to 16.20 hrs has been cancelled.

However, mega block on up and down harbour line between Kurla - Vashi will be operated as per schedule.

— Central Railway (@Central_Railway) July 8, 2018

One person killed on Saturday One person was killed and normal life disrupted in many areas on Saturday as — for the second time the same week — torrential rain lashed Mumbai and its suburbs, as well as the adjoining districts of Thane, Raigad, and Palghar, officials said. Usha Sawant, 40, was electrocuted and her 5-year-old daughter Kumari injured after a short-circuit in their house in PMGP Colony in suburban Mankhurd. The Central Railway suburban and long-distance train traffic was again hit after at least three signal poles collapsed in the rains. It diverted two trains on the Mumbai-Pune sector and cancelled three services due to the downpour, which continued intermittently overnight. Although streams and water bodies adjoining the Western Railway’s routes were swollen, there was no major impact on services. Large parts of towns such as Palghar, Boisar, Dahanu, Saphale, Virar, Vasai, Kalyan, Ambernath, Badlapur, Vidyavihar, Bhiwandi, Ulhasnagar, Karjat, Pali and surrounding villages experienced flooding or heavy waterlogging, throwing traffic movement out of gear. A majority of the big and small rivers in western and coastal parts of the state including the Savitri River were overflowing, with flood waters running into surrounding villages. The famed hill stations of Matheran (Raigad) and Mahabaleshwar (Satara), Khandala (Pune) received heavy rains and over 10,000 people jostled in traffic snarls to visit the Bhushi Dam in the neighbouring twin-hill station of Lonavala which received 160 mm rains. While Matheran and Karjart in Raigad received around 190 mm and 150 mm respectively, Mahabaleshwar and Panchgani 160 mm, Murbad in Thane was inundated under 220 mm, and Wada in Palghar with 230 mm. The IMD said most places in the Palghar, Thane, and Raigad received an average of around 110-200 mm rains in the past 24 hours. With inputs from IANS