Mumbai Gets ‘10% Annual Rain In 6 Hours’: Trains, Road & Air Traffic Stuck, That Sinking Feeling In 10 Points

Heavy rain lashed Mumbai on Monday, hitting local train services and flight operations, prompting Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde to review the situation. The rain mayhem led to the inundation of several low-lying areas in Mumbai, impacting vehicular movement, while all schools in city, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts remained shut.

Deputy CM Ajit Pawar posted on X: “Mumbai received 300 mm of rain in six hours last night. This is 10% of Mumbai’s annual rainfall. Like cities in India and around the world, Mumbai is also suffering from climate change. We should build infrastructure in Mumbai and Maharashtra keeping in view the future environmental problems due to climate change. We should take appropriate steps to face drought, flood, storm 365 days a year. Along with that, we should also try to avoid such problems.”

Mumbai is likely to continue getting heavy rain even on July 9, with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issuing a red alert for the city for Monday evening. Mumbaikars have been asked to avoid stepping out of home and dial 1916, the contact number of the Main Control Room of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), for help or any official information.

A look at the troubles faced by Mumbaikars and the forecast and preparedness for Tuesday:

• HOW MUCH DID IT RAIN? The India Meteorological Department (IMD) in Mumbai recorded more than 268 mm at the main weather station in Santa Cruz between 8.30 pm on Sunday (July 7) and 8.30 am on Monday — with at least 300 mm between 1 am and 7 am (six hours) at some weather stations. Overall, Mumbai receives around 2,300 mm rainfall on average in the entire monsoon season between June and September.Powai Lake has begun overflowing, a civic official said. In the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Monday, the island city recorded an average 115.63 mm rainfall, while the eastern and western parts of Mumbai received 168.68 mm and 165.93 mm rain, respectively, an official said. In eastern Mumbai, Govandi recorded the highest 315.6 mm rainfall, followed by 314.5 mm at Powai, while in western parts, Malpa Dongri in Andheri received the highest 292.2 mm rainfall followed by 278.2 mm at Chakala. In the island city, Pratiksha Nagar got 220.2 mm rainfall, followed by 185.8 mm in Sewri Koliwada.The BMC said it was monitoring the situation with commissioner Bhushan Gagrani marking his attendance from the disaster control room. “Emergency personnel and officers, along with the emergency control room are stationed at various locations in Mumbai and are keeping an eye on all developments. All deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners, and other systems of the corporation are active at various locations,” the BMC said.

• TRAINS: Train services on the fast line of the Central Railway’s (CR) main corridor between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) in south Mumbai and neighbouring Thane were suspended for a few hours due to waterlogging at various places and later resumed, officials said. Water on the tracks forced railway authorities to cancel some long-distance trains, while visuals from across the city showed suburban passenger trains, Mumbai’s lifeline, halted on inundated tracks. The Harbour corridor services were also suspended temporarily due to waterlogging at Chunnabhati. The Western Railway said suburban trains were running up to 10 minutes late because water was above the track level between Matunga Road and Dadar due to heavy showers. Commuters complained the suburban services were running late. There was heavy rush of commuters at various stations and in trains. The CR officials said due to heavy rain and high tide in Mumbai, local train movement in the suburban section was affected and asked people to avoid travelling unless unavoidable.

• SCHOOLS, MU: After cancelling the first session of schools in the morning, the civic body also declared a holiday for the second half. “Amid heavy rain in Mumbai, Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation declares a holiday for the second session of schools today. A holiday was declared for the first session of schools in the morning,” it said. The Mumbai University also rescheduled all the examinations for the Centre for Distance and Online Education (CDOE, formerly IDOL) scheduled in the first half from 11 am and 2 pm. The new dates for these exams is July 13.
• AIR TRAFFIC: Heavy rain and low visibility led to the suspension of runway operations at the Mumbai airport from 2.22 am to 3.40 am on Monday and the cancellation of 50 flights, according to sources. More than 250 flights were delayed and at least 30 cancelled at the city’s airport, the website of tracking service Flightradar24 showed.
• ROADS: A spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking in the morning said at least 40 bus routes in the city and suburbs were either diverted or curtailed due to waterlogging. Commuters waded through knee-deep water that partially submerged vehicles in many areas, as traffic piled up on the city’s Eastern and Western Express highways. There was heavy waterlogging in Chunnabhati, Sion, Kurla, Matunga Road, Dadar, Wadala, Bhandup, Vile Parle and King’s Circle with large crowds at railway stations in these areas, as train services were delayed or suspended on the central, harbour and western lines.

• LANDSLIDE, RAIGAD HILL CHAOS, BRIDGE WASHED AWAY: In neighbouring Thane district, a landslide occurred on a hillock, which led to residents of four houses being evacuated, while 54 people were rescued after their houses were inundated, civic officials said. In Thane district, a bridge was washed away. At least 275 houses in different areas suffered damages and around 20 vehicles were swept away, the Thane district administration said in a release.Police and other district authorities evacuated several tourists and trekkers stranded at the Raigad hill fort following heavy rains, officials said.
• MANTRALAYA AND MINISTERS: Both Houses of the Maharashtra legislature were adjourned as many members and officials could not reach the Vidhan Bhavan. Maharashtra Minister for Relief and Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Anil Patil and NCP MLC Amol Mitkari alighted from the Howrah-Mumbai train and walked on tracks for some distance, a video of which went viral.CM Eknath Shinde took stock of the heavy rain situation by chairing a meeting at the Mantralaya and visiting the BMC control room.
• WATER STOCK THE SILVER LINING: However, the silver lining amid record heavy rainfall is Mumbai’s useful water stock in reservoirs increased by 4% in just 24 hours, hinting the city may not see water crisis in the near term. Although the stock reached 18.73% on July 8, the water level in these reservoirs is still below historically when it was at 21.57% in July 2023 and 25.94% in 2022. The collective water stock in the seven reservoirs has now been recorded to be at 2,71,147 million litres, as of 6 am on July 8. Seven reservoirs that supply water to Mumbai include Bhatsa, Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Tansa, Modak Sagar, Vihar and Tulsi.

• ANIMALS DISPLACED: More than 30 animals, birds and reptiles were rescued in Mumbai and surrounding districts as heavy rains pounded the region, a forest official said on Monday. Cases of lost and abandoned pets, strays, and domestic animals were also reported, along with wildlife distress calls from the city and suburbs, said Santosh Bhagane from the Mumbai range rescue team of the forest department. “We have received more than 60 distress calls in 24 hours and rescued more than 30 animals, birds and reptiles from Mumbai and surrounding districts of Thane, Raigad and Palghar,” said Pawan Sharma, founder and president of RAWW (Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare) and the honorary wildlife warden with the forest department.
• FOR TUESDAY: The weather body has predicted heavy rain in Mumbai, over Konkan and Ghat regions of central Maharashtra on July 9, 11 and 12. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in heavily waterlogged and flooded areas of the city like Kurla and Andheri among others as well as suburbs like Thane and Vasai (Palghar). Rescue and relief teams have been deployed in Mahad (Raigad), Chiplun (Ratnagiri), Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Sindhudurg and Nagpur to avert any untoward incident and respond to a flood-like situation. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been deployed in Kurla and Ghatkopar areas of Mumbai and in other parts of Maharashtra.

With Agency Inputs