Mumbai Rains LIVE: Schools, colleges, most govt offices shut today
Heavy rains in Mumbai and its satellite cities has thrown normal life out of gear with the IMD predicting more rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours. Here are the latest updates
Mumbai: Heavy rains on Tuesday pummelled Mumbai and adjoining areas, disrupting rail, road and air services and threw normal life out of gear. Besides the metropolis, adjoining Navi Mumbai and Thane regions were also lashed by incessant downpour since last night, delaying suburban train services and leaving vehicles crawling through waterlogged roads in low-lying areas.
As the financial capital stopped in its tracks, no respite was in sight as the MeT department forecast “extremely heavy rainfall” in the next 24 to 48 hours in the western coast of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and parts of Gujarat and Goa.
The IMD has already given heavy to very heavy rainfall warning to Maharashtra and Gujarat governments, he said. Here are the latest updates and developments:
■ Local train services in Mumbai are slowly returning to normalcy with the first train chugging out of the Churchgate station at midnight. Traffic on the Western Railway suburban network had come to a grinding halt on Monday due to heavy rains. The first train left Churchgate in South Mumbai for Virar at 2358 hours, the Western Railway tweeted. “Evacuation of all stranded passengers is priority and trains will be run throughout the night, if required,” it said. (PTI)
■ Patients at the King Edward Memorial Hospital bore the brunt of incessant rain that battered Mumbai and adjacent areas on Monday, civic officials said. TV news channels showed rainwater flooding the medical facility’s premises in Parel in Central Mumbai. The flooding forced doctors to shift the patients in the paediatric ward on the first floor and to the second floor, they said. The hospital is run by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. (PTI)
■ Two children among three killed in house collapse incidents in Mumbai, local police said. (PTI)
■ Navy helicopters are on standby to meet any eventuality in view of heavy rains in Mumbai and its adjoining areas, while the NDRF too has been put on alert. Flood rescue teams and divers are also ready for deployment, a Navy spokesperson said. (PTI)
■ Mumbai on Monday recorded 298 mm of rainfall, the highest in a day in August since 1997, according to data from the India Meteorological Department. The Santacruz weather station gauged 298 mm of precipitation, second only to 346.2 mm of rainfall registered on 23 August 1997, the data showed. (PTI)
■ With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting an “extremely heavy rainfall” in the next 24 to 48 hours, Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday urged people to stay indoors. He added that only those government employees, who handled critical departments and essential services, would be on duty on Wednesday.
“In the wake of the warnings issued by the IMD, those in Mumbai and surrounding areas are advised to stay home, unless there is an emergency,” Fadnavis said.
According to the IMD forecast, the Mumbai region, Southern Gujarat, North-Central Maharashtra and Goa may receive heavy rainfall over the next 48 hours. The IMD said the low pressure over these regions might be upgraded to a “depression”, which would mean more rainfall. The western coast of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, may receive up to 250 mm of rainfall in the next 48 hours. (PTI)
■ Stock markets will remain open on Wednesday, BSE and NSE have said. Sebi and the stock exchanges are taking stock of the situation continuously and would decide accordingly amid heavy rains and strong winds disrupting normal life in the financial capital. (PTI)
■ Rupee bond deals slumped 84%, Nifty 50 was 13% lower than the three-month daily average on a day Mumbai received 30 cm rainfall in one day. (Bloomberg) Read more here
■ Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis says only employees handling critical tasks in government offices will be on duty tomorrow. (PTI)
■ Vehicles coming from Goa and Pune have been advised not to enter Mumbai today till the traffic situation in the city eases. Navi Mumbai police has issued directives to its traffic wing to send back cars, buses, trucks and other heavy vehicles and not allow them until the traffic situation in Mumbai normalises. (PTI)
■ Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has stoppped toll collection at Mumbai Mumbai entry points and the Bandra-Worli Sealink till the situation eases in rain-hit city (PTI)
■ Navy says its helicopters and divers are on standby to meet any eventuality after heavy rain in Mumbai. High tide is expected in the city today. (PTI)
■ Maharashtra education minister Vinod Tawde says schools and colleges to remain shut on Wednesday in view of forecast of heavy rain. (PTI)
■ Mumbai police has asked people stranded due to heavy rainfall to dial 100 or send message on their twitter handle to seek any kind of assistance. Thousands of Mumbaikars were stranded on railway stations and other places due to disruption in train services, water-logging on streets and slow movement of road traffic. Police personnel have fanned out on streets and lending a helping hand to the Mumbaikars who are in distress, an official said. (PTI)
■ Western Railway reschedules 12951 Rajdhani Express. “12951 Rajdhani Exp (Sch Dep 17 hrs) has now been rescheduled at 19 hrs ex Mumbai Central ( 2 hrs put back) @RailMinIndia @drmbct,” it said in a tweet.
■ Home Minister Rajnath Singh speaks with Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis and took stock of the Mumbai rains. “Had a telephonic conversation with Maharashtra CM Shri @Dev_Fadnavis regarding the situation due to heavy rains in Mumbai and nearby areas,” he tweeted. (PTI)
■ PM Narendra Modi: “Spoke to Maharashtra CM @Dev_Fadnavis on the situation arising due to incessant rain in Mumbai & surrounding areas. @CMOMaharashtra. Centre assures all possible support to the Government of Maharashtra in mitigating the situation due to heavy rains in parts of the state. Urge the people of Mumbai and surrounding areas to stay safe & take all essential precautions in the wake of the heavy rain,” said in a tweet.
■ Operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport resume, according to ANI. However, earlier PTI reported that there is an average delay of 35 minutes.
■ Mumbai airport saw flight disruptions since morning. Due to heavy winds and downpour since morning, six to seven flights had to do rounds while landing, while four to five flights were diverted to nearby airports.
These included an IndiGo Guwahati-Mumbai flight which was diverted to Ahmadabad, airport officials said. The single runway of the airport was, however, functional.
A Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport spokesperson said there is an average delay of 35 minutes.
“Heavy rains and strong winds have drastically reduced visibility leading to diversions and go arounds even though the main runway is open,” a Mumbai airport source told PTI.
■ “The operations have been suspended due to low visibility,” the PRO at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport said. (News18)
The Mumbai Police have said: “If water on roads is heading up to the level of your tires, please abandon the car. Being on your feet may be uncomfortable but safer,” the channel reports.
■ Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis: “I have talked to BMC disaster management cell and Mumbai police over hotline. Mantralaya staff told to leave early.” (ANI)
■ The IMD has also issued an advisory about high tide in the Arabian sea at 4.35pm. The IMD has predicted tides as high as 3.32 metres during high tide.
In case of emergency, contact BMC Control Room at 1916.
■ Suburban train services on all three lines—Western, Central and Harbour—stopped around 1pm, leaving thousands of commuters stranded on trains or stations.
■ Between 8.30am and 11.30am, the Santacruz weather station recorded 86 millimetres of rainfall in Mumbai suburbs, according to K.S. Hosalikar, deputy director general, IMD, Mumbai Region.
■ A statement issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said around 136 pumps have been deployed all across the city and suburbs to drain out water and all six civic pumping stations are working to capacity. The BMC and Mumbai police issued an advisory, asking citizens to not step out, unless absolutely necessary, in the next 24 hours. Five teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) left Pune at 12.45pm for deployment in Mumbai, said the BMC statement.
■ The Met Department on Tuesday warned of more “heavy intermittent spells” in the next few hours in Mumbai and its satellite cities where incessant downpour has threw normal life out of gear.
India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General K. J. Ramesh told PTI that the Santacruz weather station, which is in the suburban part of the city, has recorded 8-9 cm (80-90 mm)of rainfall from 8.30am to nearly 11.30am. The Colaba weather station has recorded 15 cm to 20 cm (150-200 mm) of rainfall during the same time period, Ramesh added.
He, however, declined to draw any parallel of the situation with that on 26 July 2005, when the city was inundated after being battered by rains and hundreds were killed. From 26-27 July 2005, Mumbai recorded 94 cm (944 mm) of rainfall in a day.
“10-15 cm of rainfall in a day is normal for Mumbai. The one the city received on 26 July 2005 was unprecedented,” Ramesh said.
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First Published:30 Aug 2017, 11:07 AM IST
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