Non-stop rain grinds Mumbai to a halt on Monday

Team TOIMumbai: Mumbai came to a standstill on Monday as heavy rain and gusty winds lashed it for the third day running and torrential showers disrupted life in other parts of the state, Palghar district being the worst-hit.

While IMD downgraded the alert for Mumbai for Tuesday from red to orange, the BMC has again declared a holiday for schools and colleges as the met department said the city will see heavy to very heavy rain accompanied by strong winds.Thane, which also has an orange alert for Tuesday, and Palghar and Raigad, where the red alert stays, have likewise declared schools and colleges shut.The BMC got 523 complaints of tree and branch falls on Monday alone as wind gusts reached 77 kmph, and at least 11 people were injured in tree-fall incidents across the city since Sunday evening, seven of them hurt in Amboli (Andheri) when a tree crashed at 2.30 am Monday.

In view of the warning of strong winds, BMC has decided to close all parks and gardens on Tuesday “for safety of citizens.”Late Monday, a 13-year-old boy Mohammed Abuzar was washed away in a swollen drain in Bhiwandi. Ten people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in the city over six days.While the state disaster management authority had declared private offices in Mumbai shut on Monday morning, transport services were disrupted across MMR.

Over 200 train services were hit across Central and Western Railway, including 43 cancellations -- 27 on CR and 16 on WR including Tuesday departures.Landslides in the Lonavala-Karjat ghat section affected services. Tree branches on harbour line and a polythene bag entangled in the overhead equipment near Vikhroli caused additional delays. On WR, over 300 mm of rain in Palghar led to severe waterlogging near Nalasopara, suspending suburban services between Vasai and Virar and disrupting long-distance trains.

But the local suburban network continued to operate, albeit with delays.The Palghar-Vasai-Virar belt was inundated with waist-high water in many areas, and Nalasopara and Vasai railway stations on the WR suburban network saw water on tracks reaching platform levels. A total of 347 residents were rescued from various areas of the district late Monday evening, with CM Devendra Fadnavis saying Palghar district was hit the most by rain.

The CM said all alerts for the state are up to July 8.Fadnavis said trains between Gujarat and Mumbai were stranded, and people were being brought by road. “The Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway work is still underway so in some parts there is waterlogging and the road is closed,” he said.The newly-inaugurated ‘Missing Link’ stretch of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway had to be shut after a landslide damaged the tunnel 2 exit in Khopoli.

Consequently, traffic between the two big cities was suspended on both carriageways. Late Monday the CMO post on X, “Traffic is resumed at the “Connecting Link”; vehicular movement is restored.” A landslide struck the Mumbai-Goa highway too on Monday.In Mumbai, BEST diverted buses on 60 routes including Bhandup, Andheri and Mulund and withdrew buses trapped in flooded streets. Power cuts affected Kandivli and Vasai, and in Girgaum, a meter room fire in a chawl caused local outage.

Heavy rain led to diversion and go-arounds at Mumbai and Navi Mumbai airports.Breakdown of vehicles and waterlogging slowed traffic at Marine Drive, Sakinaka and Dharavi as well as the Coastal Road tunnel. Poisar, Malad and Andheri subways were shut for a while. Only essential services plied, and the legislative council’s proceedings were also suspended.The sessions court was forced to adjourn key matters like the Sheena Bora murder case and NSEL scam case.With IMD issuing a red alert from July 4-6, BMC had activated its emergency response mechanism. Additional manpower, high-capacity dewatering pumps, rescue equipment and special response teams were deployed across vulnerable locations. The CM said teams of NDRF have been stationed in highly vulnerable areas across the state, and SDRF teams are in place in less vulnerable areas.Tree falls in the city affected even roads in Powai, Sion, at the Willingdon Club (Mahalaxmi), Thane and Kalyan-Dombivli.

BMC issued guidelines for construction sites in the wake of mishaps recorded in Mulund and Bhandup.Mumbai University has postponed all examinations scheduled for Tuesday. The revised exam schedule will be announced shortly on its website, the varsity said in a circular.Thane received 240 mm rain in 24 hours. One man was injured after a tree fell on him at Louiswadi, while a fireman suffered a leg injury during a tree removal operation in Vrindavan. Meanwhile, the Ulhas river rose above danger level at Badlapur and Ambernath, while the Kalu river crossed warning level at Titwala. Around 250 residents were evacuated along the Ulhas riverbank in Badlapur, including 45 from an old-age home.