Rains hit Mumbai with full force - flights, trains delayed

The rains finally kept their long delayed date with Mumbai on Friday as they lashed the city and surroundings in full force, bringing welcome relief from the scorching heat.

Along with the rains came a plethora of delays that are common to the city - flights late by 25-30 minutes, suburban trains running behind schedules by five-15 minutes and road traffic jams all over the city and suburbs.

Several low-lying areas in the city and suburbs were water-logged after overnight heavy showers, causing traffic snarls and delays for office-goers, and school and college students.

Among the areas which experienced water-logging were Andheri, Malad, Santacruz, and Dahisar suburbs in western Mumbai and Kurla, Sion, Ghatkopar on the eastern side. Long queues of vehicles were seen on the Western Express and Eastern Express highways as water from surrounding areas flowed on to the main thoroughfares connecting south Mumbai.

Dark clouds gathered over the city last evening and the rains arrived more than two weeks late from the regular date of June 10.

On Thursday, south Mumbai got 15.6 mm rains while the suburbs got 4.9 mm. It picked up last night with heavy showers in most parts of the city, suburbs, Navi Mumbai and surrounding areas of Thane and Raigad.

According to Mumbai Weather Bureau, so far the city has received only 42.6 mm and the suburbs 28.5 mm rainfall. This spells a yawning deficit of 373 mm for the city and 361 mm for the suburbs at this time of the year.

However, the rains ensured a dip in the minimum and maximum temperatures which are now at 31.8 and 25.3 degrees Celsius, respectively.

The Weather Bureau has forecast heavy rains and thundershowers over the city Saturday.