Torrential rains lashed Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad and other parts of Mumbai for the fourth consecutive day, severely affecting normal life and also paralysed local train and bus services in the state capital.
Many parts of Mumbai and suburbs were inundated with upto three to four feet of water, on the highways, main and arterial roads, bylanes, housing complexes, railway stations and even the Mumbai Airport.
However, barring incidents of tree collapse in different parts of the city, flooding and waterlogging, there have been no reports of any casualties so far.
The rains also led to a landslide in Thane district, leading to derailment of 10 coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express on Tuesday. There were no injuries in the accident.
The torrential rains are also likely to hit the immersion ceremonies on the fifth day of the Ganeshotsav on Tuesday.
The suburban local train was massively hit with disruption in services as the railway tracks were flooded at several places on the Central Railway mainline, Harbour Line, Western Railway and Konkan Railway.
Lakhs of commuters were stranded in trains, railway stations or at bus stops. Many failed to reach their destinations and were compelled to return to their homes.
Waterlogging has been reported from Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Bandra, Matunga, Dadar, Elphinstone, Mumbai Central, Mazagaon, Lalbaug, Parel, Sion, Wadala, Bhandup and other areas.
The rains have affected normal operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport with flights getting delayed by 15-20 minutes mainly on account of low visibility.
Five arriving flights were made to go around till landing permission was granted while two flights were diverted.
Domestic and international passengers bound for the airport to catch their flights faced huge problems in reaching on time due to massive traffic snarls on the highways and main roads.
The Mumbai IMD head K.S. Hosalikar said 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,” Hosalikar told mediapersons.
He said the IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rains for at least the next 24 hours all over Mumbai, 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 (Tuesday)”.
Meanwhile, a report from Bengaluru said heavy rains lashed the coastal districts of Karnataka leading to rivers and lakes overflowing, affecting daily life, India Meteorological Department (IMD) officials said on Tuesday.
Coastal districts of Kodagu, Udupi and Dakshina Kannada have received “heavy rainfall” measuring up to 11.7 cm, according to IMD officials.
Due to the rain, the roof of a mud house collapsed in Vijayapura town in Bengaluru Rural district, leading to the death of three people.
“In the early hours of Monday, a couple and their baby lost their lives as the roof of their mud house crashed down,” an official from Vijayapura’s Superintendent of Police office said.
Kodagu, which lies about 250 kms to the west of Bengaluru towards the coast, received a high amount of 11.7 cm rainfall.
“Due to the rains, we have declared a holiday for the schools and colleges in the district,” Deputy Commissioner of Kodagu district Richard Vincent D’Souza said.
“These rains were also much needed to allow Cauvery river to be replenished.”
The rains that the state has been receiving are normal and have “no link” to the cloud-seeding that the state government has been undertaking, said IMD Bengaluru Director Sundar M. Metri.
“These rains are due to the low pressure that has developed in the districts. One cannot link it to the cloud-seeding activity that is going on,” Metri said.
Due to the lack of rains in the state, the state government launched a cloud-seeding experiment named Project Varshadhari on August 21 in a bid to have rains in the state, which has been witnessing a drought situation.