Rains bring Mumbai to its knees -Governance Now

Rains bring Mumbai to its knees

More rain expected on Wednesday

Geetanjali Minhas | August 30, 2017 | Mumbai

#bus #train #metro #Devendra Fadnavis #Mumbai #Torrential rain #car #submerged #banks

(Photo: Geetanjali Minhas)

Torrential rains on Tuesday wreaked havoc in Mumbai and a day later, all government offices, schools and colleges will remain closed. Only employees providing emergency services will be on duty.

“This type of rainfall is not very abnormal in the monsoon season. Today we are expecting more or less same weather; cloudy, windy with intermittent showers. The situation is improving as in the last 8-9 hours there has been insignificant rainfall in Mumbai city,” KS Hosalikar, IMD deputy director general (western region), told Governance Now.

Ruling out a repeat of 2005 floods in Mumbai city, Hosalikar said that warnings have been given for very heavy rain in North Konkan region which includes the area from Raigarh to Palgarh and Central Maharashtra for on Wednesday.

“The intense low pressure condition in western Madhya Pradesh is moving westwards. The situation will thereafter improve and come back to normal after 31st.”

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked people to stay indoors today. All government offices, schools and colleges will remain closed today. Only those employees working in critical departments will be on duty.

So far, Santacruz has recorded 328mm rainfall while Colaba recorded 110.6mm rainfall.

Fadnavis on Tuesday ordered all government offices to allow their staff to leave early. However, with railway tracks, roads and cars submerged in water, people were forced to stay back in offices. Many chose to walk back home in waist deep water.

Rains also halted long distance trains operations. The Bandra Worli sea link was shut for several hours to clear gridlocks. Poor visibility also affected flight operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, Mumbai. Several flights were cancelled or diverted, leaving passengers stranded at airport due to lack of local transportation.

Toll collection was stopped at Bandra-Worli sea link and at Mumbai entry points, till the situation eases in rain-hit city. Outside vehicles are not being allowed to enter the city.

In addition to its five teams in Mumbai, five additional NDRF teams were moved in from Pune. The Indian Navy has put up rain shelters for those stranded, besides keeping its divers and choppers on standby to rescue people.

Metro services have been functioning normally and all private banks were open on Wednesday.

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