Mumbai rains: IMD issues red alert as incessant downpour triggers road cave-ins, waterlogging, and traffic chaos

Incessant heavy rainfall threw Mumbai out of gear on Saturday, prompting the BMC to shut schools and colleges early. Following an IMD red alert, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urged citizens to avoid unnecessary travel until July 6

Mumbai: Incessant and heavy rains threw life out of gear in Mumbai and its metropolitan region on Saturday, triggering incidents of road cave-in, tree fall and house collapse, and disrupting road and rail traffic.

The continuous downpour, coupled with the India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s extremely heavy rainfall alert, forced the civic body to declare a holiday for schools and colleges in the afternoon.

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The showers led to water-logging in several low-lying areas of the metropolis, including Andheri, Kurla, Sakinaka, Chembur, Santacruz, Goregaon and Powai, and crippled the services of the public transport utility as well posed difficulties for the users of private vehicles.

Water staganted on tracks, especially between Nalasopara and Virar stations on the Western Railway line, affected the train services. While the railway administration said trains on the route were running 15 to 20 minutes behind the schedule, passengers complained that the operations came to a standstill.

Train traffic on other routes – Main and Harbour lines – were also affected.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis urged people in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune-Nashik belt to strictly follow official weather advisories and avoid unnecessary travel in view of the warning of heavy rainfall and storms till July 6.

Despite the late arrival of monsoon, the country’s financial capital has been witnessing heavy rainfall since the beginning of this week.

Several parts of the city recorded over 100 mm in the 24 hours period ending 8 am on Saturday, civic officials said.

As per the data shared by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in the western suburbs, Bandra (H West ward office) recorded the highest rainfall at 150.6 mm, followed by Supari Tank, Bandra (146 mm) and Pali Chimbai, Bandra (143.2 mm).

In the island city, Parel received 141.8 mm, followed by Matunga-Dadar with 135.2 mm, Fort with 120.8 mm, Wadala with 118.3 mm and Lower Parel with 118 mm.

Downpour lashed the eastern suburbs as well, with Vikhroli logging 143 mm, followed by Ghatkopar at 136.4 mm, Mankhurd at 134.2 mm, Chembur at 127.6 mm, and Maharashtra Nagar in Mankhurd at 124 mm.

The island city recorded an average rainfall of 99 mm, the eastern suburbs 98 mm and the western suburbs 94 mm in 24 hours.

From 8 am to 2 pm on Saturday, the city recorded an average rainfall of 28 mm while the eastern suburbs received 96 mm and the western suburbs 83 mm, indicating significantly heavy showers in the suburban belt.

Heavy rains, coupled with high tide, led to water-logging at several locations, and civic teams were deployed to clear the accumulated water, the BMC said.

The Andheri subway was closed for vehicular traffic, while the movement of vehicles was also stopped due to submerged roads in Sakinaka, Chandivali and Vile Parle.

As a precautionary measure, police closed several waterlogged roads, including stretches in Chembur, Andheri and Vikhroli, and advised motorists to avoid the affected areas, the BMC said.

The civic body said 64 incidents of tree falls were reported across the city — 18 in the eastern suburbs and 36 in the western suburbs. No injuries were reported in these incidents.

Eight incidents of house or wall collapse were also reported. In one such incident at Banewadi in Byculla, a two-storey structure collapsed, injuring two men and one woman. They were admitted to J J Hospital, where their condition was stated to be stable.

In Bhandup’s Sonapur area, a portion of a road caved in near an under-construction site, causing a vehicle to sink into the pit. No casualty was reported.

Train services on the Central Railway routes are facing delays due to poor visibility and water accumulated on tracks at Vikhroli, the officials said.

“No abnormality till now. Trains are running with reduced speed and one caution order is imposed near Vikhroli,” a CR spokesperson said.

The Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking diverted buses on six routes due to waterlogging, including five in the western suburbs and one in the eastern suburbs.

The Mumbai civic body on Saturday declared a holiday for the afternoon session in all schools and colleges across the metropolis after the IMD issued a red alert of extremely heavy rainfall.

A BMC spokesperson said that the decision was taken keeping in mind the safety of students amid the forecast of extremely heavy rains.

The IMD issued the red alert for Mumbai, warning of extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places during the day.

Talking to reporters here, CM Fadnavis said the IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre has forecast very heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and rainfall significantly above normal in the affected region till July 6.

“We have requested people to avoid travel if possible so that accidents caused by heavy rain and storms can be prevented. Citizens should follow the official alerts and venture out only in accordance with the advisories,” he said.

In neighbouring Thane and Palghar, heavy rains led to water-logging in low-lying areas, and multiple tree-collapse incidents that disrupted normal life.

Thane city recorded 65.79 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 1.30 pm on Saturday, while Palghar district received 97.70 mm rainfall during the same period.