Mumbai, Aug. 29 (PTI): Torrential rain brought Mumbai to its knees today, disrupting rail, road and air services and uprooting trees and swamping homes, amid forecasts of "extremely heavy" downpour over the next 48 hours.
Thousands of vehicles were stranded on key arterial roads that were under knee to waist-deep water, police advisories went out asking people to remain indoors, landings at the city airport were stalled and several flights diverted to other cities. A landslide outside the city caused by the heavy rain led to the derailment of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express this morning. Rail officials said there were no casualties.
Navy helicopters were on standby, and rescue teams and divers ready for deployment.
Schools and colleges will remain closed tomorrow. Chief secretary Sumit Mallick issued an advisory saying that if heavy rains persisted tomorrow, government employees may stay home.
The metropolis today recorded 298mm of rainfall, the highest in a day in August since 1997, according to data from the Santacruz weather station. "People are surprised as heavy rainfall in Mumbai is generally witnessed during June and July," Ajay Kumar, director, Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, said.
The situation jogged memories of the great deluge of July 26-27, 2005, when the city was inundated after being battered by 944mm of rain in a day and hundreds were killed. But India Meteorological Department director-general K.J. Ramesh declined to accept the parallel and described the earlier downpour as "unprecedented". "10-15cm (100 to 150mm) of rainfall in a day is normal for Mumbai. The one the city received on July 26, 2005, was unprecedented," Ramesh said.
Charan Singh, IMD director, said a "Red" warning had been issued for the next 24 hours, indicating "very heavy rainfall". "Mumbai, south Gujarat, Konkan, Goa and west Vidarbha will get extremely heavy rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours," A.K. Srivastav, head of climate monitoring and analysis at IMD Pune, said.
According to the civic body's disaster management cell, at least 20 incidents of trees falling and one of wall collapse were reported from the city but there were no casualties. Lower Parel, Dadar, Kurla, Andheri, Khar West, Ghatkopar, Sion and Hindmata were among the areas where roads went under water and left thousands stranded, with many stuck in their vehicles that broke down.
The water woes were compounded by the high tide that prevented drainage into the sea. "Heavy waterlogging expected in coming hours due to heavy showers coupled with high tide. Pls chk ur route before venturing out," Mumbai police said in a tweet, advising people to remain indoors.
Suburban rail services, the lifeline of Mumbai, were thrown out of gear. Services on the Harbour Line remained suspended since 11.30am, officials said. Trains were running late or halted on other lines as the tracks were submerged at several places. Having waited for hours with water showing no signs of receding, many passengers were seen jumping off stranded trains and walking along the tracks to their destinations.
At the city's Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, landings were stopped after 4pm but flights were taking off, officials said. Several flights had to go around before touching down while many were diverted to nearby airports, mainly Ahmedabad.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union home minister Rajnath Singh spoke to chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and assured all help. The Centre has sent nine teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
The navy said a Sea King 42C chopper - equipped for both day and night rescue missions - was deployed, as were military doctors. "Five flood rescue teams and two diving teams are also ready to render assistance at different locations across Mumbai," a navy spokesperson said.
