Mumbai Rain: Just before the departure of monsoon, Maharashtra’s capital Mumbai is receiving heavy rains. This has led to knee-deep water in many low-lying areas. Local trains stopped between Kurla and Thane stations and passengers were stranded, while traffic on the roads slowed down. The heavy rains also affected air services and 11 flights had to be canceled. Keeping in mind the safety of the students, a holiday has been declared in all schools and colleges in Mumbai tomorrow (Thursday, 26 September 2024). The IMD has upgraded its orange alert for Mumbai city and its neighboring districts to a red alert till 8.30 am on Thursday.
Heavy rains have been lashing several suburbs of Mumbai since Wednesday afternoon, with Mulund and adjoining areas receiving the most rainfall, leaving low-lying areas waterlogged. Local train services were also delayed due to the rains, officials said. In a warning issued at 5.30 pm, the IMD has predicted extremely heavy rainfall and thundershowers accompanied with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts. The weather department has issued a red alert for Palghar and an orange alert for Thane, Raigad, Mumbai and Pune for September 26. An orange alert has been issued for Nashik and Dhule districts of north Maharashtra. Heavy waterlogging has been reported in Kurla, Chembur, Mulund, Vikhroli, Breach Candy and some other areas in Mumbai.
NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leader Supriya Sule showed a submerged road in south Mumbai’s Breach Candy area through Facebook Live. She offered a lift to a man stranded outside a building. Local and express train services were affected at some places between Kurla and Thane due to waterlogging on tracks, leaving passengers stranded at various stations. “Due to heavy rains, the Kurla railway track was submerged, forcing local trains between Thane and Mumbai to halt on the tracks. Thousands of passengers are stranded in these trains,” a railway passenger said. A Mumbai civic body official said Mumbai’s eastern suburbs received a maximum of less than 30 mm of rain before 6 pm on Wednesday.
11 flights cancelled, 14 diverted due to heavy rains in Mumbai
On the other hand, 11 flights were cancelled and 14 diverted to nearby airports on Thursday due to heavy rains in Mumbai. Runway operations at Mumbai airport had to be halted twice as visibility dropped to 300 metres, while airlines issued advisories to passengers to reach the airport early in view of traffic congestion and water-logging in parts of the metropolis. An airport source said, “Due to bad weather and low visibility, runway operations were first halted for 11 minutes from 8.32 am to 8.43 am and then for 19 minutes from 10.36 am to 10.55 am, which came down to 300 metres and Runway Visual Range (RVR) to 500 metres due to heavy rains.”
