Heavy rains throw life out of gear in Mumbai

Normal life was thrown out of gear in Mumbai on Tuesday due to heavy overnight rains that led to severe water logging in many parts of the city and badly disrupted road, rail and air traffic.

The heavy downpour accompanied by gusty winds since Monday evening led to traffic snarls at various places. Suburban trains were also running late by 30-45 minutes due to water-logging on the tracks. Central Railway was running 30 to 45 minutes late while Harbour line and Western lines are running 10 to 15 minutes late, the railways said.

Several low lying areas including King's circle, Sion, Santacruz Milan subway and Hind Mata were inundated and traffic police said the movement on the western and eastern express highways had been affected badly.

According to Mumbai International Airport Limited, visibility at the airport has been reduced to 800 feet. Incoming flights were delayed by 15 minutes while the departure of the flights was more or less on time.

The rainfall recorded till 5.30 am was 93.4 mm at Colaba in south Mumbai and 125.6 mm at Santacruz in western suburbs. Water logging was also reported at Wadala truck terminus, Maratha Mandir, Khar-Andheri subways, Deonar colonies and some parts of Govandi.

Several trees were also uprooted due to strong winds in the city. The weather bureau said frequent spells of heavy to very heavy rains with strong winds will continue.