IANS/New Delhi
Heavy rains disrupted rail and road traffic in Mumbai and New Delhi yesterday.The weather office has forecast more rains.In Mumbai, Colaba recorded 57.1mm rain, while Santacruz recorded 34.2mm of rainfall until 2.30pm yesterday.Rail and road traffic was hit in both cities.In Mumbai, trains on the western and central lines were running late by 10-20 minutes.Incessant rains left low-lying areas water-logged. Areas like Hindmata, Parel, Dadar and western suburbs were submerged in knee-deep water. Traffic snarls were also reported on the two main Express highways. Civic authorities said there was no reason to panic. Water pumps were installed in areas prone to frequent water logging.Until Sunday, Mumbai received the lowest rainfall in the month of August with only 244.6mm rain.Worried by the deficient rains this year, Mumbai’s civic body has decided to resort to ‘artificial rains’ at a cost of Rs65mn, an official said recently.Brihan Mumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) Commissioner Sitaram Kunte announced the decision as the city’s water collection and storage remained around 30% deficient, with the peak monsoon drawing to a close by the month-end.“Cloud-seeding will be carried out for 12-15 days mainly in the catchment areas of the Bhatsa and Vaitarna rivers in Thane district,” Kunte said.The cloud-seeding, using a small aircraft, will be done by an Israeli company which has expertise in the field. The city has received rainfall to sustain the water needs for another 250 days only, or up to mid-February 2013.In Delhi, traffic snarls were reported from Baraf Khana, Kashmere Gate and Nangia Park underpass in north Delhi and Moolchand flyover and IIT road in south Delhi, among many other places.“Traffic jam calls have been received from Ashram Chowk, Moti Bagh Dhaula Kuan, Mehrauli, Modi Mills and Nehru Place in south Delhi, Shakti Nagar and Rohini in north Delhi,” a Delhi traffic helpline official said.