All Passengers On Board Stranded Mahalaxmi Express Rescued: Highlights

• Maharashtra Chief Minister tweeted that a special train has been arranged for all the passengers of #MahalaxmiExpress from Kalyan to Kolhapur.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister tweeted, "Happy to inform that all the passengers stranded in #MahalaxmiExpress have been evacuated safely. Congratulations & Thank you to @NDRFHQ , Army, @indiannavy , Airforce, Police, Indian Railways, Local administration and entire team."

Happy to inform that all the passengers stranded in #MahalaxmiExpress have been evacuated safely.
Congratulations & Thank you to @NDRFHQ , Army, @indiannavy , Airforce, Police, Indian Railways, Local administration and entire team for this coordinated & great efforts! pic.twitter.com/31oN5c9aFa

- Devendra Fadnavis (@Dev_Fadnavis) July 27, 2019

• All passengers, including nine pregnant women, have been rescued from the Mahalaxmi Express that remains stranded in heavy flood waters near Mumbai. 
• The rescue operation picked up after rain subsided a little post-noon, enabling quicker movement of personnel and the evacuated passengers.

• Around than 500 passengers, including women and children, have already been rescued, a railway official told NDTV.
• A fleet of ambulances with 3 dozen doctors including gynecologists, paramedics were deployed to tackle any emergency, 14 buses and 3 tempos were also kept ready to move the passengers to safer locations.

• Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai called up Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and offered all help from the Centre for the train passengers.

• Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has tweeted that 7 Navy teams, 2 helicopters, 2 military columns along with local administration are trying to bring situation under control.

#WATCH Maharashtra: Aerials shots of Mahalaxmi Express rescue operation. More than 500 passengers have been rescued so far. pic.twitter.com/nLlsfebPAr

- ANI (@ANI) July 27, 2019

• Maharashtra government writes to NDRF, Air Command, Navy, Air Force and military requesting rescue operation of over 115 persons who are stranded at a resort in Thane.

• Indian Air Force (IAF), Navy, Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) launched a massive aerial and surface operation to rescue an estimated 1,500 passengers stranded in the Mahalaxmi Express on the flooded railway tracks at Vangani in Mumbai. 
• The teams, which included divers with special equipment and medical aid, managed to rescue around 120 passengers, including women, children and toddlers, by noon.
• Relief work is being hampered due to continuing heavy rain.
• Officials said it may take several hours to complete the rescue operation depending on the rain and the flood waters.
• The IAF and NDRF teams also brought to safety a group of around 7 passengers, who got down from the train to start walking towards Badlapur station but found themselves stuck in the swirling flood waters, running between 3-6 feet, for over 2 hours until some local villagers threw ropes at them, as reported by IANS.

• As Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Express, with 700 passengers on board, is stranded eight flood rescue teams of Navy, including 3 diving teams have been mobilised with rescue material, inflatable boats and life jackets. 

• Maharashtra government requested the defence officials to arrange airlift of passengers of a train stuck on tracks near Mumbai since Friday night.
• A Seaking Helicopter has also been sent with divers.

• The towns of Badlapur, Ulhasnagar, Vangani underwater since early Saturday as heavy rain lashed the region, flooding local rivers and other water bodies, reported IANS.

• In Mumbai, Minister of Education Ashish Shelar authorized school and college principals to declare a holiday to ensure students are not inconvenienced if heavy rain continued.

• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has said Mumbai will continue to receive heavy rains till July 29 with the minimum and maximum temperatures hovering around 24 degree Celsius and 30 degree Celsius, respectively. 

• In the wake of heavy rainfall alert issued by the MeT department, the district magistrate has ordered all government and private schools to remain shut today in Dehradun.
• The district administration has issued an orange alert in Dehradun.

• Rail services too have been hampered by the intermittent rains in Mumbai.
• "Very heavy rains in Kurla-Thane belt and very-very heavy rains beyond Kalyan. As a precautionary measure, we have suspended services from Kalyan to Karjat/Khopoli. Services on all other corridors of Central railway are running," Chief Public Relation Officer, Central Railway said.

• Waterlogging was also reported outside the domestic airport departure gate leading to hassles for passengers who managed to reach the airport after being stuck in traffic jams for two-and-half hours on the Western Express Highway.
• Water-logging is being reported from Sion area, following heavy rainfall overnight.

• In Juhu Tara Road, Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, several stretches of SV Road and parts of Western Express Highway were waterlogged, leading to traffic jams. 
• Traffic jam on the Western Express Highway started before the toll plaza at Bandra and extended all the way up to Borivali, around 25 km away.

• Seventeen flights were diverted and many delayed by up to an hour in Mumbai on Friday evening due to heavy rain and low visibility. 
• There was massive waterlogging and traffic jams across the city, with no respite from the heavy downpour. 
• The intensity of the rain will only start decreasing from Saturday afternoon or evening, private weather forecaster Skymet has predicted.
• "Flights are delayed by 30 minutes on average, due to heavy rains since last two hours," an official of the Mumbai airport told news agency ANI.
• Along with peak hour traffic, Western Express Highway was badly affected due to the rain with those heading to airport worst affected. On a normal day, the traffic crawls and the rain during peak hour made it worse.