Mumbai battles rain again, road traffic, trains hit

Mumbai received 185.3mm rain in the last 24 hours, the heaviest spell of rain this season. After heavy showers yesterday that disrupted road and rail traffic, parts of Mumbai continue to receive heavy rain this morning. Waterlogging on railway tracks between Kalyan and Vithalwadi on the immediate outskirts of Mumbai means services on the suburban central railway are disrupted. 

Many roads in Kalyan too are waterlogged.  Parts of South Mumbai too received rainfall this morning.

By 6 pm yesterday, South Mumbai had received about 64 mm of rain; Western suburbs had received 93 mm; and Eastern suburbs 113 mm.

The weather bureau has forecast similar heavy to very heavy rains over Mumbai and other parts of the state for the next two days.

Several low-lying areas in the city and suburbs were waterlogged, slowing down vehicular movement and causing massive traffic snarls on both the national highways and other major roads. Water logging was reported from parts of Borivli, Kandivli, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Bhandup, Sion, Byculla and some areas in Dadar, Worli, Goregaon and Kurla experienced flooding.

The incessant rains resulted in overflowing of Thane district's Lake Tansa, a major source of drinking water for the 17 million people of the city, civic official said.

Five people were injured in a house-collapse in Chunabhatti area of central Mumbai.

There were also reports of a minor landslide in the Chembur area. However, there were no casualties or injuries in the incident.

The evening peak hour witnessed chaos with a signal failure at Santacruz-CST on the Harbour Line route and trains virtually crawling to their destinations. People commuting from south Mumbai to their homes in the suburbs were stuck en route and reached their destinations only after long delays of one-two hours.

Elsewhere in the state, most districts of the coastal Konkan, eastern districts of Vidarbha, northern parts of the state, Marathwada and western Maharasthra were lashed with heavy rains since this morning, spelling cheers for the water-starved farming community. As a precautionary measure, some schools in the district were closed early to enable students reach their homes safely.