Three persons were killed and five injured in rain-related incidents in Mumbai on Friday. Mumbai was lashed by the first spell of heavy rains this monsoon that marked its most delayed arrival in the city in 45 years, officials said.
Three persons died of electric shocks, while two others were injured in two separate incidents in the western suburbs, a spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said. Three persons were injured when a portion of a wall collapsed in Dadar (East) and were admitted to the civic-run KEM Hospital.
Rail and road traffic in Mumbai was also affected while the airlines issued travel advisories as the city received 140 mm of rain within a span of nine hours. Vistara, IndiGo issued a travel advisory requesting passengers to check for delays due to heavy rainfall in Mumbai.
The weather department has forecast heavy rains till June 29. The IMD forecast said intense spells of rain are likely in the districts of Greater Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad over the next few days.
Various parts of the city witnessed heavy traffic as the roads faced water-logging and flooding. Heavy traffic congestion was reported on Western express highway and Dharavi. The suburban services on both lines were affected due to water logging. Water-logging was also seen at the Hindmata area of central Mumbai.
Suburban train services, considered Mumbai’s lifeline, were running late by 10 to 15 minutes, said, railway officials.
According to a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) spokesperson, due to the ongoing metro rail work and water-logging at some places, a few buses of civic transport undertaking BEST were diverted from their regular routes. BMC had to close a busy subway in suburban Andheri.
Waterlogging was reported from areas like Dadar, Wadala, Worli, Kurla, Chembur, Bandra, Andheri, Kandivili, Vikhroli, Kanjurmarg and Bhandup, among others. The BMC appealed to the citizens to avoid driving in waterlogged areas.
Rain forecast
Deputy Director General (Meteorology), IMD-Mumbai, K S Hosalikar tweeted, “Latest satellite indicate enhanced rainfall activity will sustain over west coast including Mumbai, Thane and around. @CPMumbaiPolice, @MCGM_BMC.”
Skymet predicted heavy to very heavy rains in Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri and the adjoining areas in the next 24 hours