Mumbai faces rain fury; normal life, train services disrupted

Mumbai: Heavy rains on Tuesday lashed Mumbai and adjoining Navi Mumbai and Thane regions, delaying suburban train services and leaving vehicles crawling through water-logged roads in low-lying areas.

Traffic jams were reported on all major arterial roads, including the Eastern and Western Express Highway, Sion-Panvel highway and LBS Marg as the rains continued since Monday night.

Water-logging was reported in low-lying areas of Parel and Sion. A tree fell on the busy Saat Rasta road, affecting road traffic.

Suburban services were disrupted with trains on all the three lines - western, central and harbour - running late.

Water-logging on tracks was reported in Andheri and Bandra, civic officials said.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said the situation was well under control and advised the citizens to step out of their homes only if necessary.

"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, said.

"Step out of homes only if it is too important because water-logging has been reported from several parts of the city," he said.

Naik, however, added things were well under control and senior civic officials were keeping a close watch on the situation.

"Due to water logging on tracks & point failure at Bandra following very heavy rains, 3 lines except UP Fast line are affected. Efforts are on to start traffic on 3 lines (except UP fast line) at Bandra as soon as possible by attending the points," the Western Railway tweeted.

According to an official from the BMC's Disaster Management Cell, "There have been reports of water-logging in Dadar, Andheri, Worli, Kurla and Sakinaka, among other areas.

We have received 20 cases of tree falling and one of a wall collapse."

"Despite heavy downpour, no untoward incident has been reported so far," said the official. Commuters were stranded at some places.

"Stuck in a local train between two stations #MumbaiRains no announcements if the train will go ahead. utter #chaos," Vidya Kumar, a passenger stranded at Bandra station for over an hour, tweeted by tagging @RailMinIndia @drmbct.

Actor-turned-entrepreneur Gul Panag tweeted, "Brace yourself Mumbai. Heavy rain coming.Plan ahead. Stay safe."