Heavy monsoon rains brought India’s financial capital to a halt yesterday, with authorities struggling to evacuate people with a high tide adding to the chaos.
Incessant rain flooded several parts of Mumbai and paralysed train services used by millions of commuters daily, with many stranded at stations and hundreds of others walking home through waist-deep water on railway tracks.
Poor visibility also forced airport authorities to divert some flights while most were delayed by up to an hour.
Thousands, some abandoning their water-logged cars, waded through waist-deep water to reach home after some parts of the city received as much as 297.6mm of rainfall.
Children were sent home early from school.
Weather officials are forecasting heavy rains to continue over the next 24 hours and have urged people to stay indoors.
A high tide amid the downpour led to water logging of up to 5ft in some parts of the city.
The National Disaster Response Force launched a rescue mission with police to evacuate people from low-lying areas but operations were thwarted by the continuous rain.
“The heavy rains, flooding, are delaying our rescue work. Even we are stranded,” said Joint Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar.
Rainwater flooded the King Edward Memorial Hospital in Parel in central Mumbai, forcing doctors to vacate the paediatric ward.
“We are worried about infections...the rain water is circulating rubbish that is now entering parts of the emergency ward,” said Ashutosh Desai, a doctor in the 1,800 bed hospital.
Waterlogging was reported from Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Vile Parle, Santacruz, Bandra, Matunga, Dadar, Elphinstone, Mumbai Central, Mazagaon, Lalbaug, Parel, Sion, Wadala, Kurla, Bhandup and other areas.
There were reports of a dozen wall collapses and falling of trees, police said, but no casualties so far.
Residents of waterlogged areas were requested to switch off their electricity and gas connections by Mumbai police.
The Bandra-Worli sealink, a vital connection between two parts of the city, was closed intermittently.
“I haven’t been able to travel and had to cancel all my plans,” said researcher Rajesh Prabhakar, who was stranded on the outskirts of the city after flooding forced the cancellation of rail services.
“Many of my friends are stranded at railway stations...this is a reminder of the 2005 floods.”
Floods then killed more than 500 people in the city.
Electricity, water supply, communication networks and public transportation were totally shut down during the 2005 catastrophe.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged the people of the state to “stay safe” and take all essential precautions while speaking to Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis to take stock of the developments.
Federal Home Minister Rajnath Singh also talked to Fadnavis and took stock of the situation.
Around 6.30am the rains triggered a landslide in adjoining Thane district, leading to derailment of 10 coaches of the Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express but there were no casualties.
Snehal Tagade, a senior official in Mumbai’s disaster management unit, said they were deploying 150 teams to help the population in low-lying residential areas.
“We are mapping all the flooding zones to launch a project to build emergency shelters to make evacuation easy,” said Tagade.
Many businesses asked employees to leave early in expectation of worsening traffic jams.
Rains and a high tide threaten to overload an ageing drainage system.
Several companies have also arranged for food and resting facilities for employees who have been stuck in office.
Temples and other Ganesh pandals have been offering those stranded on streets food and water.
Social media also has been abuzz with people offering help to strangers who have been stuck at various locations in the city.
The education minister has asked all schools and colleges in the city to remain shut today.
The flooding lead to some power outages in parts of the city with the municipal corporation warning of more such cuts if water levels continued to rise.






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