Mumbai: Fourteen persons died in rest of Maharashtra in rain- related incidents in the last 24 hours, officials said. In Buldhana district, a 52-year-old woman was killed on the spot by a bolt of lightning.
As rains continued to lash Mumbai, waterlogging was reported at Airport Colony, Vakola Junction, Postal colony, near Chunabhatti Railway station and Vakola road, a BMC official said.
Over 1,000 people were evacuated from Kranti Nagar, Kurla, to prevent any untoward incidents due to an overflowing Mithi river, he said.
Incessant rain resulted in delayed and suspended train services, waterlogged roads, and impacted flight services as a plane overshot the runway at the Mumbai international airport.
During the last 24 hours, Mumbai recorded an average rainfall of 163 mm with the highest in eastern suburbs (329 mm) followed by western suburbs (309 mm) as per the BMC.
“Adding to the rain woes, Mumbai witnessed a 4.92-metre high tide at 11.30 am which hampered efforts to pump out water on the Central Line, leading to waterlogging,” said a BMC official.
The civic body claimed that six pumping units have pumped out more than 14,000 million litres of water and discharged it into the sea, which is more than the combined capacity of Tulsi and Vihar lake in Mumbai.
“Since the rainfall intensity reduced in the morning, the water receded by noon. Around 1,400 dewatering pumps have been set up at flood-prone spots. We are prepared for the monsoon,” said a BMC official.
Operations at Central Railways (CR) were suspended which left thousands stranded in the trains during the time and were rescued by CR and RPF jawans. The Western Line was also impacted as 180 suburban services and 11 express trains were cancelled.
The BMC’s disaster management cell received over 3,593 complaints, including 116 related of tree and branch falling, apart from waterlogging and wall collapse issues.
Mr Fadnavis was seen monitoring the situation at the disaster management control room of BMC along with civic officials.
The meteorological department has warned of “extremely heavy” rainfall in adjoining areas of Thane and Palghar on July 4 and 5. The Mumbai University also postponed the exam of B.Sc Computer Science for first and second year students due to heavy rains.
A Central Railway (CR) official said CR personnel, with the help of RPF jawans, rescued thousands of passengers stranded in local trains and served them tea, biscuits and other food items at stations.
