Normal life was thrown out of gear at several places in Mumbai and Thane on Friday due to heavy overnight rains.
The city experienced moderate to intense spells of rain today. Waterlogging in several parts of the city threw traffic movement out of gear. Despite the civic body’s claims about pre-monsoon work, waterlogging was witnessed in several parts of the city including Parel, Dadar, Wadala, Kurla, Chunabhatti, Sion, Bandra, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Santacruz, Malad, Dahisar, Nallasopara, Mira Road and Bhayander.
Due to heavy rains and waterlogging on slow line near Kurla -Vidyavihar, local trains were running 20-25 minutes late. Slow line traffic between Kurla -Vidyavihar was diverted on fast line. Harbour line was also running 20-25 minutes late. Western Railway’s chief spokesperson Sumit Thakur, however, said despite heavy rains the Western Railways suburban services were running normal between Churchgate and Dahanu Road with minor delay due to low visibility in some areas.Routes of some BEST buses in the city were also diverted. BEST buses were diverted on 87 routes in island city and suburbs due to waterlogging at 27 places, an official said. Bus frequency was badly hit, leading to long queues at bus stops. Many buses suffered breakdown en route and were towed to the nearest depot.Mumbai city received 64.45mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours ending at 8 am on Friday. The eastern suburbs have recorded 120.67 mm rains and western suburbs 127.16 mm. A high tide of 4.08 metres is expected at 4:26 pm, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert indicating heavy rains in parts of Mumbai, Thane and Palghar. A yellow alert indicates heavy rain at isolated places and orange indicates heavy to very heavy rains at isolated places being very likely.The weather department had issued an orange alert for Pune, Raigad, Kolhapur and Satara indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places and a red alert for Ratnagiri district.
Fishermen are advised not to venture along and off the North and South Maharashtra-Goa coast.
IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatories have reported 1055.6 mm and 1291.6 mm rainfall since June 1.
However, the lakes that supply potable water to Mumbai have not received much rain. The total water stock stands at 2.5 lakh million litres or 17% of the total required stock. On July 13, 2020, the total water stock was 3.39 lakh million litres.
Surjitt Sahani
