Nine dead as heavy rains lash Mumbai

Mangalore Today

Mumbai, June 17: A few hours of heavy rain threw the city completely out of gear on Wednesday. A wall collapse in a slum area in Thane led to the death of eight people. Walls collapsed in Chembur, Mulund and Andheri too, though no one was injured.

A landslide took place at Chembur Vashi Naka in which three houses were destroyed but no one was injured.

Even as the civic corporation said it was ready to face the monsoon, water logging slowed traffic in many parts of the city. Rail and air services too were not spared. Suburban trains were delayed by 10 to 15 minutes due to the heavy rains in the morning.

 

 

 

 

One runway of the Mumbai international airport shut down for the day. The other also shut down for 10 minutes after visibility dropped. Three Mumbai-bound flights were diverted to Ahmedabad and Pune because of the congestion.

Meteorological department said Mumbai has already received 60.77 mm rainfall with Colaba in south Mumbai recording 78.6 mm and suburban Santa Cruz getting 95.0 mm since Tuesday. The eastern suburbs have received 77.56 mm of rainfall while in the western suburbs it is 67.57 mm.

Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai Commissioner Swadhin Kshatriya told CNN-IBN that 200 pumps were used for pumping out water from low-lying areas.

"All officers are on high alert. There is some local problem but most of the trains are running. There is a forecast of heavy rains with high tide after 3 PM," said Kshatriya.

He also added that buildings in danger of collapsing due to heavy rains had been identified. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has said 876 buildings in south Mumbai are dilapidated and in imminent state of collapse.

A pre-monsoon survey conducted by the civic body said 876 buildings, mainly located in A, B and C wards are in dilapidated state.

MCGM had on Monday advised people not to venture into the sea as the city warning of high tides measuring about 4.70 meters till June 17.

The Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rainfall, accompanied with thundershowers and strong winds, in the metropolis in the next couple of days. According to the civic administration, there will be tides from June 13 to 17 measuring between 4.58 m to 4.73 m.

On July 26, 2005, the metropolis saw unprecedented floods as 944 mm of rainfall coincided with a 4.48m tide.

Courtesy: IBN