Heavy rain batters Mumbai, several roads waterlogged; rail traffic affected

Mumbai woke up to another rain-soaked morning on Thursday as heavy showers inundated low-lying areas and disrupted road and rail traffic across the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert for Mumbai and a red alert for neighbouring Palghar, warning of continued heavy to very heavy rainfall in the city and its suburbs through the day.

Several parts of the city recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8 am, according to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Commuters faced disruption in several areas as waterlogging slowed traffic, while local train passengers reported delays during the morning rush hour.

Heavy rain since early Thursday morning led to waterlogging in Dadar, Parel, Hindmata, Charkop, Worli, Goregaon and Andheri, causing inconvenience to commuters and slowing vehicular traffic.

Local train services were also affected because of water accumulation, though railway tracks were not submerged. Rail commuters said several services were running 10 to 15 minutes late, leading to overcrowding during peak hours.

The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai and nearby suburbs, with the possibility of extremely heavy showers towards Thursday night and early Friday morning.

Occasional gusty winds with speeds of 50-60 kmph are also likely. The BMC said a high tide of 4.27 metres is expected at 1.45 pm on Thursday, while the next high tide of 3.71 metres is due at 1.31 am on Friday. A low tide of 1.82 metres is expected at 7.49 pm on Thursday.

A Central Railway spokesperson said that despite more than 180 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, there was no major waterlogging on its network and local train services on all four corridors were operating normally.

Western Railway also said on X that suburban services on its network were running normally, even as commuters said some trains were behind schedule.

According to the BMC, the eastern suburbs received the highest average rainfall at 189 mm in the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Thursday, followed by 172 mm in the island city and 165 mm in the western suburbs.

Among the highest rainfall readings, Santacruz SWM Workshop and the S Ward Office in Bhandup recorded 238.8 mm each, followed by Paspoli Municipal School in Powai at 234.6 mm, Tagore Nagar Municipal School in Vikhroli at 233.2 mm, Mithagar Municipal School in Mulund at 226 mm, Andheri Fire Station at 225.4 mm, F South Ward Office in Parel at 222 mm and G South Ward Office in Prabhadevi at 220.4 mm.

With heavy rain continuing, low-lying areas remained affected, transport was slowed and authorities warned of more intense showers and strong winds later in the day and into early Friday.

- Ends