1 killed, holiday declared as rains pound Mumbai, MMR

Mumbai: At least one person was killed in Thane as heavy rain clobbered Mumbai since Monday night with the state government declaring a holiday in the city and Mumbai Metropolitan Region areas, officials said here on Tuesday.

A 15-year-old boy Rakib A. Mandal was electrocuted and died on the spot when he came in contact with a live wire of a street-light pole near the Owala Hanuman Temple on Ghodbunder Road in Thane.

Mumbai city recorded 23 cms while the suburbs notched 16.cms of rain which threw normal life out of gear in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad (MMR areas), catching commuters unawares.

The Central Railway’s Harbour Line was stopped from Kurla-Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and trains crawled on the main lines, but the Western Railway suspended services between Bandra-Churchgate owing to flooding in Dadar and surrounding areas.

Road traffic was the worst-hit in the city and entire MMR region with the BEST diverting its routes in Dadar, Kings Circle, Parel, Wadala, Chembur, Kurla, Sion and Bandra owing to waterlogging in these areas.

A massive landslide on the Western Express Highway between Kandivali-Malad paralysed south-bound traffic at dawn today, but there were no casualties.

Soon afterwards, the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation deployed six JCBs to start work of clearing the debris, stones and the highway is likely to be cleared for operations by evening.

BMC Commissioner I.S. Chahal, accompanied by top officials P. Velrasu, Chandrashekhar Chore, Sanjay Rathod and others went around various flooded spots in south Mumbai and supervised the anti-flooding operations undertaken.

In several suburbs, homes or shops were flooded in slums or lowlying areas in Malad, Kurla, Ghatkopar, Parel with people struggling to save their valuable belongings from the water.

The Mithi River branches at Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali and Goreagaon were swollen and running above the danger-levels, forcing many on their banks to evacuate their dwellings with the authorities remaining alert for any eventualities.

The Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway, the Mumbai-Pune old highway, major or arterial roads in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad were heavily waterlogged or flooded, stranding many vehicles in 3-4 feet deep waters, and causing traffic snarls.

The IMD has forecast spells of more heavy to very heavy rainfall in the city and surroundings over the next 24 hrs, besides a 4.45 metre high-tide at 12.47 pm and another swell after midnight.

IANS