Mumbai Rains: Heavy rains inundated various parts of Mumbai forcing traffic police to shut down four subways.
Mumbai. The Southwest Monsoon (Monsoon 2021) made landfall in Mumbai and its surrounding areas on Wednesday and heavy rains on the very first day inundated many places in the country’s financial capital and its suburbs, affecting normal life. And along with road traffic, local train services were also disrupted. Meanwhile, the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai and neighboring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, warning of very heavy rain at some places.
Heavy rains have flooded various parts of Mumbai, forcing the traffic police to shut down four subways while many drivers were forced to leave their vehicles on the roads. Local train services were also disrupted, which were plying only for workers engaged in health and other essential services. Somnath Gharge, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic), Western Suburban, said, “We have closed four subways due to water logging up to two feet at some places. However, traffic is smooth on SV Road, Linking Road and Western Express Highway.”
increased risk of accidents
Due to heavy rains, visibility decreased and the risk of accidents has increased, the official said. Therefore, traffic police personnel have been deployed on the roads to prevent such incidents. He said that cranes are being used to clear the vehicles stuck on the roads. Meanwhile, the police have appealed to the people of Mumbai not to come out of their homes unnecessarily.
The suburban train services from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Vashi in neighboring Thane and Navi Mumbai have been suspended due to water logging on the tracks, officials said. According to the IMD, western suburb Santa Cruz recorded 164.8 mm of rain in the six hours from 8.30 am to 2.30 pm, while Colaba in south Mumbai recorded 32.2 mm of rain during this period.
Dr Jayant Sarkar, head of IMD’s Mumbai office, said in the morning, “Today the monsoon has reached Mumbai.” The IMD said that conditions are favorable for monsoon over the remaining parts of Maharashtra in the next two to three days. Meanwhile, Western Railway Chief Spokesperson Sumit Thakur said that there was no disruption on the Western Railway route and its local train services were running normally. He said that pumps are being installed to extract water.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has directed the administration to ensure that the water accumulated due to rains is removed at the earliest and transport system is restored. Chief Minister Thackeray interacted with the district magistrates of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Palghar, besides the control rooms in Mumbai. Normal life has been affected in many areas due to incessant rains.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) said that the Meteorological Department has predicted moderate to very heavy rains in the next three days. The CMO said that the Chief Minister has asked the officials to ensure that the residents of the coastal area are not inconvenienced and relief operations are initiated where necessary.
