Heavy rains disrupt train traffic in Mumbai; CM denies waterlogging in city

Heavy rains lashed parts of Mumbai amid an orange alert on Wednesday leading to disruption of local train services beyond Kalyan in the adjoining Thane district diversion of some express trains and cancellation of a few services between Mumbai and PuneHowever Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde claimed Mumbai has 110 lowlying areas and there was no waterlogging in the city and traffic remained smoothShinde declared a holiday for all schools in Mumbai Thane Raigad and Palghar districts for Thursday amid a heavy rainfall warning in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region MMRThe chief minister visited the disaster management cell in Mantralaya to review the flood situation in the state and directed officials to be on alert mode PTI reportedHe was apprised of floods due to heavy rains in some areas in Palghar Raigad Ratnagiri Sindhdurg Pune Satara and Gadchiroli districtsShinde also visited the disaster control room of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation along with some ministers in the evening and took stock of the situationldquoSchools in Mumbai Thane Raigad and Palghar have been given a holiday tomorrow as a precautionary measurerdquo the chief minister told reportersShinde said he spoke with all divisional commissioners and collectors and instructed them to send help to Raigad battered by heavy rains since Tuesday night from Panvel and Navi Mumbai Municipal CorporationsAlso readIN PHOTOS Mumbai local trains affected after heavy rainsThe CM credited the installation of 450 pumps by BMC in 450 areas and the drain cleaning work for the nonaccumulation of water on a rainy day in MumbaiAmid an orange alert predicting heavy to very heavy showers at some places Mumbai received moderate to heavy rainfall till Wednesday eveningColaba and Santacruz observatories indicators for the island city and suburbs recorded 984 mm and 528 mm of rainfall respectively according to BMCs monsoon updatesThe island city eastern suburbs and western suburbs received an average rainfall of 5846 mm 4880 mm and 5063 mm respectively between 8 am and 6 pmReay Road area in Mumbai recorded the highest rainfall at 9273 mm followed by 8967 mm rainfall at suburban Kandivali and 8484 mm rainfall in DahisarMumbai saw 27 incidents of tree fall three of short circuits and two incidents of house or part of house collapse since Wednesday morningA fiveyearold girl was killed after the slab of the third floor of a groundplusfivestorey building collapsed in suburban Bhandup in the wee hours a civic official saidHe said the civic body distributed biscuits to passengers stranded at CSMT in south Mumbai due to train disruptionBus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport BEST undertaking ran as per their proper routes and there was no diversion a civic official saidA civic official said the IMD Mumbai in its daily weather forecast predicted heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs with a possibility of very heavy rainfall at a few places in the next 24 hoursThe Central Railways suburban train services on the KalyanBadlapur stretch in Thane district adjoining Mumbai were restored after seven hours on Wednesday officials said Services on the KalyanKasara route were up and running after nearly three hoursThe Central Railway said it has diverted some mail and express trains via DivaPanvelKarjat route and DaundManmad route besides shorttermination and cancellation of a few trains between Mumbai and PuneThe disruptions caused inconvenience to thousands of commuters As trains crawled or stood still on tracks several commuters were seen walking on rail lines to reach the nearest stationIn the morning train services on the PanvelBelapur Harbour Line route were affected due to a point failure at Panvel at 940 am They were restored by 10 am he said PTI