Heavy rain, bridge crash cripple Mumbai

Heavy rain delayed flights yesterday in and out of Mumbai where a footbridge partially collapsed, halting commuter trains.Schools and colleges in several parts of the city declared a holiday but government offices, the stock exchange and banks were functioning as normal.Jet Airways, India’s biggest full-service airline, announced a waiver on penalties for changing flights and refunds for passengers flying out of Mumbai.A footbridge, weakened by the rain, partially collapsed in the western suburb of Andheri, blocking train services on one of three main railway lines into the city.Five people were injured, two seriously, a senior fire brigade official said.The local rail network is the lifeline for 20mn inhabitants of India’s financial capital.“Five people were injured, one of them seriously. Fortunately no train was passing beneath the bridge when it collapsed else it could have been a big tragedy,” an officer manning the police control room said.The crash damaged a part of the platform roof, high-tension electric cables and power equipment and blocked the railway line.Railway and fire service teams were working at the site to remove concrete slabs and debris so rail traffic could resume.Railways Minister Piyush Goyal ordered an inquiry into the bridge collapse.The bridge was more than 50 years old and needed repairs, NDTV channel reported.But a much bigger potential disaster was averted when Chandrashekhar Sawant, the alert driver of a Churchgate-Dahanu train, saw the bridge collapsing and applied emergency brakes barely 50-60m away.His heroic deed earned accolades from Goyal who announced a reward of Rs500,000, plus a felicitation later.Around 7.30am - at the height of the morning peak hours, Mumbai commuters were left shocked when a portion of the Gokhale Bridge, connecting the east-west over the Andheri rail station, suddenly caved.Collapses of old and ageing structures are not uncommon in India and politicians demanded a safety audit of bridges on rail routes in the metropolis.Last year, at least 22 people were killed in a stampede at the Elphinstone station following rumours that a nearby bridge had collapsed.Since Monday night, the city was battered with more than 131mm rainfall and the surroundings got between 130-210mm, leading to flooding in places like Kandivali, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Ghatkopar, Santacruz, Sion, Kings Circle, Matunga, Kurla, Chembur, Tilak Nagar and other areas.Congress president Rahul Gandhi expressed concern for Mumbai commuters and urged them to “stay safe”.“The streets are flooded, citizens stranded, bridges collapsing. Civic governance has collapsed. My thoughts are with the citizens of Mumbai,” he tweeted.The opposition Congress and Nationalist Congress Party sharply criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-Shiv Sena for the Mumbai mess - second time since the June 9 downpour - and demanded stringent action against those responsible.Mumbai Congress president Sanjay Nirupam and NCP Mumbai president Sachin Ahir unanimously demanded a full audit of all the bridges, skywalks and flyovers and a white paper on the safety status.l Rain in several parts of Punjab and Haryana brought relief to people yesterday from the hot and humid conditions.Monsoon arrived over the region ahead of schedule on June 29, however, it did not rain after that leading to the humid conditions with the maximum temperatures hovering between 34 to 40 degrees Celsius.The Met department has predicted rain and thundershowers in the region in the next 72 hours till Friday.Chandigarh and its surrounding areas were lashed by rain early yesterday.