Mumbai waterlogged after heavy rain

AS the southwest monsoon made landfall in Mumbai on Tuesday, Shiv Sena (UBT) former MP Priyanka Chaturvedi slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) after heavy rainfall led to waterlogging across several parts of the city.

Sharing a video on X, Chaturvedi wrote, "Mumbai is ready for the rains, like every year. Thank you, myBMC. Not." The video showed heavy rain, leading to waterlogging.

In another post, she shared another video from the Andheri subway and wrote, "First heavy rains in Mumbai. This is Andheri Subway. Needless to say, Mumbai is blessed with a triple-engine sarkar. Not." The video showed a car passing through water at the flooded underpass. According to an NDTV Profit report, the Andheri subway was later shut down due to severe waterlogging following heavy rainfall across the city.

In the video, a BMC official, Rhitik, said the authorities had been unable to come up with a temporary fix for the persistent flooding at the location. "Our officers keep standing here to ensure vehicles don't pass through. But some rickshaw drivers still try to get their vehicles across," he said. He further noted that a rickshaw became stranded in the middle of the subway, endangering the driver's life. “Two of our officers helped bring him out," the official said.

Another BMC official, identified as Robert, said the civic body was trying to prevent vehicles from entering the flooded underpass. He said, “We are doing our best to ensure that no vehicles get inside the underpass. We are trying to protect as many people as possible.”

Apart from Andheri, waterlogging was also reported in several areas, including Dadar railway station, Dadar's Swaminarayan Mandir area, King's Circle, Milan subway, Vasai-Virar, Nalasopara, Malad East-West subway, APMC Vegetable Market and parts of Navi Mumbai.

Monsoon onset drenches Mumbai

On Wednesday, Mumbai residents woke up to an overnight heavy downpour, which impacted suburban train services, inundated low-lying areas and caused hardship to commuters, news agency PTI reported.

Citing officials, the report added that parts of the metropolis received over 200 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8 AM today.

The southwest monsoon reached Mumbai on Tuesday, 13 days after its normal onset date, bringing widespread rainfall across the city and suburbs and providing massive relief from the sweltering heat.

Services impacted, commute affected

The overnight rain also led to waterlogging in several low-lying areas of the city by Wednesday morning, affecting road traffic and the daily commute of thousands of residents. Citing civic officials, it said that water accumulation was reported at the Andheri subway, Hindmata, and King's Circle areas during the early morning hours, impacting vehicular movement and causing traffic congestion on key roads.

Additionally, suburban railway services were impacted as rainwater gathered on tracks at several locations; though officials noted that the water level remained below the danger mark for suspending train operations.

Some commuters also complained of delayed services with overcrowded local trains during the peak morning hours, especially on Central Railway corridors. Several commuters also faced delays and overcrowding at stations, as some train services were disrupted following the incident.

Officials said that heavy rainfall also disrupted Central Railway's Trans-Harbour line services between Thane and Vashi/Panvel in neighbouring Navi Mumbai after excessive water flow triggered a track cave-in between Turbhe and Koparkhairane stations.

At 4 AM on Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai and Palghar for the following three hours, warning of thunderstorms, lightning, heavy to very heavy rainfall, and wind speeds of 40-60 kmph.

At 7 AM, the alert was downgraded to orange for the next three hours, with moderate to heavy rain forecast for the districts of Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Palghar, and Sindhudurg.