In 24 hours, Mumbai gets two-thirds of month’s rain

MUMBAI: Heavy rain lashed the city and its suburbs beginning Monday night, indicating that monsoon was back in full vigour in the city after three weeks. Palghar town to the city’s north received in 15 hours more than half the 944mm deluge that had come down on 26/7, resulting in the drowning of a 16-year-old.
The IMD forecast for the next 24 hours is occasional spells of rain or showers.One or two spells may be heavy.
Citizens were again left ruing the apathy of the BMC and the railway authorities as road traffic as well as local trains crawled in the morning because of water-logging. As many as 41 tree falls injured two persons and compounded traffic snarls at several areas across the city. At the airport, poor visibility led to one flight from Mumbai being diverted while some others had to make multiple efforts to land.
There were a few cases of wall collapse; one at Govandi killed a two-month-old baby. In Titwala, more than 8 people, including two children, fell into open gutters. The Palghar downpour also led to the cancellation of five long-distance trains and delayed several more.
The rainfall received in suburban Mumbai in the 24-hour span from June 20-21 (from 8.30am to 8.30am) was four times the rainfall which the island city recorded. Santacruz, during this time, recorded two-thirds of the total July rainfall received this year so far. In Mumbai, the rainfall recorded in July so far in Colaba was 34.2mm and in Santacruz 95.9mm. Out of it, the rainfall recorded in the 24 hours from July 20-21 in Colaba was 15.8mm and in Santacruz 61mm.
But Palghar town swamped all other areas, receiving a whopping 530 mm rainfall in the last 15 hours. Mumbai, on 26/7, 2005, had received 944 mm. Thane, which recorded a rainfall of 1042.80mm from January to December last year, has received 1,144mm of rainfall since January this year.
“Areas like Palghar, Wada, Bhiwandi and Kalyan recorded significant rain as compared to areas in Mumbai city and suburbs. As winds were westerly and the sea was rough, a warning for fishermen was issued. They were advised not to go into the sea during the next 24 hours. Wind speed was 45-50 km per hour, at times reaching 55 km per hour in gusts,” K S Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region) India Meteorological Department told TOI.
Almost all major roads in Mumbai were jammed and many were under water due to the downpour on Tuesday. Motorists were stuck on the Western and Eastern Express Highways, Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road, SV Road, Linking Road, Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, LBS Road and Bandra-Worli Sea Link. Tree collapses caused further congestion. The airport junction was severely clogged for most part of the day. Several motorists returned home after being unable to reach office on time.
Waterlogging led to congestion at Milan Subway, Matunga, Khar Subway, King's Circle, Ram Nagar in Santa Cruz, near Sion Hospital, Mohammad Ali Road, Kalina and Juhu Tara Road.
Tree collapses were reported at Kandivli (E) near Thakur Complex, Kherwadi, Behrambaug in Jogeshwari, near G7 cineplex at Bandra and Carter Road no. 3 in Borivli, stalling traffic. Stalled vehicles such as BEST buses at Malabar Hill and Peddar Road and a car on the Tulpule Chowk flyover hit traffic movement.
A fire at a mall in Bandra (W) prompted diversion of traffic from the Linking Road to SV Road. Internal roads in Bandra were clogged throughout the day.
Vehicular movement in the evening was comparatively smoother across the city as rainfall reduced.
At the airport, poor visibility forced four arriving flights to abort approach and make a second attempt at landing, said an airport official. A GoAir Bangalore-Mumbai flight was diverted to Ahmedabad. However, passengers of Air India flight 675 from Mumbai to Kolkata alleged that the delay was not weather related. An airline spokesperson said that the flight scheduled for a 6am departure was rescheduled to 9.30am on Monday itself and the passengers were informed about it. “Due to heavy rains, the flight departed at 11.25am,” said the airline spokesperson. Sameer Makhecha, a passenger onboard AI flight, said the flight was delayed because of problems with cockpit crew.
Mumbaikars cried foul about the apathy of the civic body and railway authorities. “Once again, the same problems arose on Tuesday with trains moving at snail’s place to waterlogging at several spots bringing traffic to a standstill. Despite the June 19 flood situation, the authorities are still to learn their lessons,” said a Bandra resident. On Tuesday, 16 dewatering pumps were in operation in the island city area, 37 in eastern suburbs and 19 in western suburbs.
Meanwhile, the official page of the Pothole Tracking System (voiceofcitizen.com), which is the BMC’s initiative to tackle the pothole problems in Mumbai during the monsoon, was non-functional on Tuesday.