Mumbai: Owing to heavy rain over the night, suburban services of the Western Railway here were stopped, a senior railway official said.
As such, Mumbai had a characteristically manic monsoon Monday, with the season's first severe downpour flooding the city with problems in every direction. While there were minor issues in the railway services, several roads in the city were waterlogged yet again, ultimately leaving the common man in the lurch.
However, weather agencies have stated that the next 48 hours will steadily remain cloudy with a heavy chance of severe rainfall.
While Colaba received 104.8 mm of rainfall, Santacruz recorded 75.9 mm. It was a better day for students, as schools and colleges remained shut owing to severe flooding situations in several parts of the city.
The official said that services between Churchgate and Borivili were, however, normal.
"Since last night, over 200 mm rainfall has been recorded which led to water logging on railway tracks and considering the passengers' safety, train services have been stopped till the water level on the track recedes," he said.
He said that de-watering efforts are being made by the water pumping machines to flush the water.
However, the Central Railway's suburban services are running normally at all its corridors despite the heavy rain overnight.
"Trains are running normally on Central Railway's all three lines -- main, harbour and trans-harbour," the Central Railway tweeted.
It also tweeted to thank its passengers to offer its gratitude.
"We received innumerable messages and tweets yesterday from you all bestowing accolades on us that despite heavy torrential rains for the past 72 hrs, we provided uninterrupted services. We thank you all for the faith, confidence and immense support shown by each one of you," it tweeted with a video attachment.
Many schools also sent their students back home after the rain showed no signs of subsiding. Later in the morning, education minister Vinod Tawde declared a precautionary holiday for schools and colleges. The date for the first list of FYJC online admissions was also extended by a day. "The decision was taken due to the adverse weather conditions that resulted in students being unable to reach colleges to complete the procedure," tweeted Tawde.
Mumbai University (MU) also declared that all those students who could not go for their exams on Monday will be given another chance. "New dates for all the examinations will be declared soon," said Vinod Malale, officiating registrar and PRO of MU's exam section.
On the roads, the downpour was unkind, as it led to flooding in Gandhi Market, Kamani Marg in Kurla, L N Nappo Road in Matunga, N L Complex in Dahisar, the National college road in Bandra, Siddharth Nagar and Oberoi Mall junction in Goregaon and pockets of Elphinstone, Hindmata and Parel. The Andheri and Khar subways were briefly closed for vehicular movement when water levels rose. After the water was pumped out, the subway was reopened.
Low-lying areas in central Mumbai and a stretch of P D'Mello road between Wadala and Matunga witnessed waterlogging. As the rains progressed in the afternoon, the 200 to 300 metre pocket between King's Circle, Tulpule Chowk flyover and Sion hospital flyover near Matunga was closed for traffic.
Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet weather, said, "Similar weather conditions are likely to prevail for the next two days. Cyclonic circulation is persisting over south Gujarat and adjoining north coast of Maharashtra, bringing about heavy rains in Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. Low and medium level clouds will stay atop the region and bring in more rain."
Heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at few places in Greater Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar between 10th to 13th July, says IMD.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rain till Thursday.
Amid torrential rain, the Tulsi lake, which supplies water to the people of the city, started overflowing yesterday.
Mumbai's pervasive Dabbawalas, the tiffin careers of the city, have suspended their work today in entire city.
"We did not collect the tiffins today, because of the water logging across the city. Our people find hard to wade through their cycle in knee deep water," Mumbai Dabbawalas Association's spokesperson Subhash Talekar said.
Top 10 updates on Mumbai rain:
- Suburban trains services between Vasai and Virar near Mumbai have been suspended due to accumulation of rain water on the rail tracks, Western Railways said. Local train services between south Mumbai's busy Churchgate station and Vasai are delayed. A railways official said that services between Churchgate and Borivili are normal. The Central Railway's suburban services are running normally at all its corridors despite the heavy rain overnight.
- Schools and colleges in Mumbai were closed yesterday as a precautionary measure. While the Maharashtra government hasn't declared a holiday for Mumbai schools and colleges, Mumbai University said examinations will be rescheduled for students who could not appear for them on Monday.
- "We did not collect the tiffins today, because of the water-logging across the city. Our people find hard to wade through their cycle in knee-deep water," Mumbai Dabbawalas Association's spokesperson Subhash Talekar said.
- Heavy rain with strong winds are being reported from several parts of the city this morning. Extremely heavy rainfall is likely in parts of Greater Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar between today and Friday, the weather department said this morning.
- Monday's downpour brought the financial capital virtually to a standstill as the streets were flooded and the normal life was thrown out of gear. Heavy rain for the third consecutive day affected the city's lifelines - the train services - and road traffic.
- Visibility at the Mumbai airport was "not very good" but flights were operating according to schedule on Monday, an Met official said. Jet Airways said they will not be charging a penalty fee today for date and flight changes for travelers who've booked their tickets to and from Mumbai.
- Due to water-logging, around 300 people were stuck in their homes in Vasai town of the adjoining Palghar district on Monday. However, they refused to be evacuated even as the water level receded, an official said.
- Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Monday, the Colaba observatory recorded a rainfall of 104.8 mm.
- The city received 54 per cent of its average monsoon season rainfall just in the last 20 day, the city's civic body noted.
- Private weather foresting agency Skymet said the rainfall may cross 150 mm in the next 24 hours.
