Agencies/New Delhi
Heavy rainfall left parts of the India’s financial hub Mumbai underwater yesterday, flooding homes, closing schools and badly disrupting train and road services. The Indian Meteorological Department said 178.6mm of rain fell in the 24 hours to 8.30am local time (0300 GMT) in the south of the city, while 232.6mm was recorded in the suburbs. NDTV news channel reported one person died and two people were injured in a landslide in a northern suburb. Mumbai has been lashed virtually non-stop since Friday, with more heavy rain and high winds forecast over the next two days before the annual monsoon rainy season draws to a close next month. Fishermen have been advised not to venture out for the next 24 hours due to rough seas along the Maharashtra state coast to Goa and winds reaching up to 65km an hour. Train services were badly hit by the downpours, with the Central Railway only able to operate 10% of its 1,573 scheduled daily services, spokesman Male Gaonkar said. Shuttle buses were replacing trains in some areas while pumps were deployed along tracks to get rid of water, he added. “It will take a little time to get back to normal,” Gaonkar added. “We have about 3.8mn daily commuters so a substantial number will be affected.” All Central Railway suburban train services were hit between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Thane and beyond Karjat where a portion of the track was washed away on Sunday.On the Harbour Line, service was suspended between Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus and Mankhurd and was being operated only between Panvel and Mankhurd.Delays also marred the services on Western Railway.Some 7mn people use the Central and Western railways every day. Several subways, including in Dahisar, Kandivli, Malad, Jogeshwari and Santacruz, were flooded, hitting road traffic.Traffic on both the Eastern Express Highway and Western Express Highway went out of gear, as also the other main and arterial roads crisscrossing the city.Flooding is an annual hazard during the monsoon in Mumbai, particularly in low-lying areas, making roads in some parts impassable and reducing traffic to a standstill in others. In 2005, more than 400 people died in Mumbai after a record 944.2mm of rain fell in just 24 hours, causing severe flooding. Neglected drainage and blocked waterways were blamed for contributing to the disaster. July was the wettest month for 35 years at the Colaba monitoring station in south Mumbai with 1,284.4mm of rain - 455.3mm more than average. Santa Cruz, in the suburbs, had 1,362.5mm, up 666.1mm, the weather office said. Yesterday, state-run schools were shut and dozens of people evacuated from their homes near the Mithi river as water levels rose. Fire crews rescued 33 people from a resort on the city’s outskirts when a river burst its banks, municipal authorities said. But the city’s domestic and international airports were not affected by the weather, although four outbound and two inbound flights from the southern city of Kochi were cancelled, said spokeswoman Anindita Sinha.