23 June,2013 06:50 AM IST | | Vedika Chaubey
Millions of Mumbaiites will be praying that the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has got it all wrong. Because if the weather predictions come true, then today could see major waterlogging in the city.
With a high tide of 4.7 metre predicted today, the railway authorities are taking no chances and have issued a flood alert. Pic/Bipin Kokate
Both Western and Central Railway authorities have issued flood alerts for today, fearing that the predicted heavy showers could coincide with the high tide of 4.72-metre expected in the afternoon. There are 18 days this season when the tide will be over 4.5 metres-high and if it rains more than 65mm on any of these days, the city and its railway tracks could get badly waterlogged.
"Even last Sunday services on Central and Harbour lines were suspended for over four hours leaving thousands of passengers stranded. We have put our staff on alert for this Sunday too," said a CR official. The MET office has issued a high tide alert for June 23. "We have asked our staff to be on alert and requested IMD to provide short term weather forecast on a day to day basis," informed a senior official from Western Railway.
In addition, both Central and Western railway motormen have been given instructions to stop the trains if the water level rises above three feet. Special teams have been deployed to inform the control room about rising water levels at different locations. "This has been done so that the motormen can have an idea about the rising water level as they progress on their journey," said a WR official. Interestingly, last Sunday the water level on railway tracks at some places were around 100 millimetre.
Atul Rane, chief PRO, CR, said, "Any tide higher than 4.5 metres is considered a dangerous high tide. If more than 65 mm rain is recorded on such high tide days, the situation can worsen. We are prepared and also asked our staff to be on high alert on these days."u00a0
