Building collapses as heavy rains lash Mumbai

People wade through a flooded street in Mumbai yesterday.

Agencies/Mumbai

An apartment block collapsed in central Mumbai yesterday evening with people feared trapped inside, a fire official said, on the second day of heavy monsoon rains in the city.

“Rescue operations are still on. We’re not sure how many people are trapped inside,” the official, who declined to give his name, said after the collapse in Mahim, without giving further details.

According to the NDTV news website, the residential building had a car showroom on its ground floor. A picture on the website showed a large crowd gathered around a mound of rubble between two buildings.

Reports said the collapsed structure had been four or five storeys high.

Many parts of Mumbai and suburbs were flooded yesterday morning, hampering traffic, officials of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai’s Disaster Control Cell said.

Flooding was reported from Malad, Andheri, Versova, Dadar, Parel, Chembur, many parts of the key LBS Marg in the eastern suburbs and Marol-Saki Naka belt.

Two important subways at Malad and Andheri were flooded, with about 3ft of water, rendering them unusable.

Local trains were delayed by 20 to 30 minutes. Peak morning hour commuters and businessmen were left inconvenienced.

South Mumbai recorded 9.04cm rain, while the suburbs notched a staggering 18.01cm rain in the past 24 hours, a weather bureau official said.

The forecast for today is “heavy to very heavy rains” in many parts of the coastal areas including Mumbai, with strong winds. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the Arabian Sea.