Mumbai sees heavy rains; Rail traffic affected, BMC gets 291 treefall complaints till Mon evening

Mumbai, Jul 6 (PTI) Mumbai witnessed very heavy rains on Monday, which eased a bit from afternoon, though gusty winds triggered treefalls, officials said. Till Monday evening, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation had received 291 complaints of trees getting uprooted and branches falling amid heavy rains and winds, they added. As per the BMC monsoon report, between 8 am and 6 pm, the city received an average of 28.2 millimetres rainfall, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 61.75 mm and 65.45 mm, respectively. "BMC received 291 complaints of tree and branch falls till 6 pm, comprising 74 in the city, 78 in the eastern suburbs and 139 in the western suburbs. Civic teams were deployed to clear the fallen trees and branches, and no injuries were reported," an official said. A total of 22 incidents of partial house or wall collapses and 12 cases of short circuits were reported, though no one was hurt in these, he added. In a release issued on Monday evening, the civic body said Mumbai had received 300 mm of rainfall in the city, 380 mm in the eastern suburbs and 345 mm in the western suburbs over the previous 48 hours. It said teams had been deployed across the metropolis to respond to incidents of fallen trees and branches, short circuits, partial or complete building collapses and other rain-related emergencies. High-capacity pumping stations, dewatering systems and additional manpower were pressed into service to clear waterlogged areas, while rescue equipment and other resources were kept on standby, officials said. The civic body claimed more than 550 pumps were continuously operational to pump out accumulated water from various low lying areas. As a precautionary measure, schools and colleges across Mumbai remained closed on Monday following the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) red alert. The Maharashtra government also advised private establishments to allow employees to work from home wherever possible and declared a half-day for employees of non-essential government and semi-government offices. The IMD had issued a red alert for Mumbai for three consecutive days from July 4 to July 6, warning of extremely heavy rainfall and gusty winds of 70-80 kmph. It has now issued an orange alert for Tuesday, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall accompanied by gusty winds. The BMC advised residents to avoid stepping out unless necessary, stay away from trees, dilapidated structures, hoardings and electric poles, refrain from parking vehicles under trees, and avoid visiting the seafront and waterlogged areas. Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Bhide monitored the situation from the emergency control room at the BMC headquarters over the past three days and reviewed the response of various departments, issuing directions to ensure coordinated action, the civic body said. The BMC appealed to citizens to rely only on official information and contact its helpline, 1916, in case of any emergency. Public transport services remained partially affected across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Suburban services on Western Railway continued to be disrupted between Vasai Road and Dahanu in neighbouring Palghar district due to waterlogging, while suburban services between Karjat and Khopoli on Central Railway remained suspended till late evening following a ballast washout. Long-distance train services to and from Gujarat also remained suspended due to waterlogging at multiple locations between Virar and Palghar, while services on the Mumbai-Pune route continued to be disrupted because of landslides at several locations in the Karjat-Lonavala ghat section. Thousands of passengers were affected as several trains remained stranded, cancelled, rescheduled or diverted. PTI KK GK BNM