Heavy rains cause waterlogging across Mumbai

As heavy rain causes waterlogging across city, yellow alert remains in place till July 24

Heavy rain battered Mumbai and its suburbs on Sunday, causing widespread disruptions. The downpour led to severe traffic issues, with Andheri and Khar subways closing due to waterlogging. However, the impact was somewhat mitigated as it was a Sunday. Flight operations were briefly suspended owing to poor visibility and bus services were diverted over waterlogging. The railways did not report any disruptions. 

According to traffic police, the Maharashtra Nagar subway in Trombay was inundated with four feet of water. Traffic came to a standstill in several areas, including Lal Bahadur Shastri Road (LBS Road) in Kurla West, Shell Colony in Chembur, Sangram Nagar in Wadala, and the Hindmata to Parel TT stretch.

Traffic on the WEH in Santacruz. Pic/Atul Kamble; Water entering the houses near the sea in Bandra. Pic/Atul Kamble; Andheri subway had to be shut on Sunday. Pic/Satej Shinde

Several vehicles were stranded on inundated roads in Wadala and Matunga in central Mumbai, the official said. Advocate Trivan Kumar Karnani, founder of the citizen group MNCDF, said, "We received complaints of waterlogging from SV Road, Vile Parle, and Khar. Water pumps were deployed, and the situation was eventually cleared."

Akansha Patankar, a resident of Andheri East, reported waterlogging while travelling from DN Nagar via Juhu Circle and Gokhale Bridge. "Roads at all junctions and signals were waterlogged. The area from Juhu Circle to Barfiwala Bridge had waterlogging at multiple places," she said. Another Andheri West resident, Khushrav Adenwalla, said, "I came from Peddar Road to Andheri and saw water stagnation on every road, causing traffic to slow down."

Flooded road after heavy rain at Hindmata in Parel. Pic/Ashish Raje

A resident of Mira Road complained, "From Dahisar to Mira Road, every inch of the asphalt road, including the highway, is packed with potholes." Sanjeev D’Souza, a Bandra West resident, said, "This time, Bandra residents surprisingly did not face issues with heavy waterlogging. Usually, our resident groups are flooded with complaints. There is always someone reporting an open manhole, but it seems the BMC's water pumping efforts have worked."

Nikhil Desai from Hindmata said, "Despite spending Rs 200 crore, Hindmata still faces severe waterlogging, and drainage has not improved." The BMC disaster control room received around 700 to 750 calls about various incidents. While officials reported no new flooding hotspots, locals noted more waterlogging spots than usual due to the intense rain. 

Huge tides were seen at Dadar Chowpatty. Pic/Anurag Ahire

City's lifelines: Trains: WR services slowed down but remained largely unaffected. On the Central Railway, trains were disrupted. "At Nahur and Kurla, the tracks were down due to waterlogging at 3.29 pm Trains are running with delays," a spokesperson said. 

Buses: Several BEST buses were diverted from their usual routes. Due to waterlogging on LBS Road in Kurla, BEST bus routes 22 and 25 were rerouted via the WEH, Kalanagar, Dharavi T Junction, and Sion. Bus route 332 on LBS Road in Kurla was curtailed at Sakinaka. Similarly, BEST bus route 167 was diverted via Sant Rohidas Marg and Senapati Marg due to waterlogging on Murudkar Marg in Prabhadevi. Additional diverted routes from the Anik bus depot include bus routes 363 and 430, which were rerouted via RCF Railway Bridge. 

Flights: Flight operations at T2 were suspended twice for a brief period due to inclement weather and low visibility, a source said. At least 15 flights were diverted to the nearby airports, mainly Ahmedabad, till 4 pm.

Officials on high alert

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Sunday instructed officials to be on high alert in light of heavy rain in several parts of Maharashtra.

Chaos in Navi Mumbai

Around 50 tourists were stranded at a waterfall near CBD Belapur and a rescue operation was underway at the time of going to press. Waterlogging was reported from Nerul, Koparkhairani, Vashi, and Sanpada. 

Youth Congress leaders protesting in Andheri

Protesting in the rain

Youth Congress workers decided to take out a unique protest against the Eknath Shinde-run government by showing up in two boats at waterlogged Veera Desai Road in Andheri West a little before Country Club. 

It could rain all week!

IMD has said rain will continue till the end of the week. “The frequency of rainfall will reduce after July 25,” said an IMD official. “Over the next four to five days, Mumbai will get frequent showers, some of which will be heavy. The weather can be windy at times. Rain can increase over Mumbai’s water-supplying lakes,” said Rajesh Kapadia of Vagaries of Weather, a private weather blog.

Private weather agency Skymet Weather stated, “Mumbai is likely to continue to see heavy rain till the end of the week.”

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