Rain takes break in Mumbai; 2 boys drown in last 24 hours

Mumbai, Jul 7 (PTI) After two days of relentless downpours that battered Mumbai, the rains eased on Tuesday, offering residents a welcome respite as local train services and road transport returned to normal. Two minor boys drowned, while two women suffered injuries as cement sheets collapsed at a garden in Mumbai during heavy rains and winds during the last 24 hours, officials said on Tuesday. Across the city, civic authorities reported 428 incidents of trees and branches crashing down and 28 complaints of wall and house collapses, underscoring the scale of disruption on Monday during heavy showers. Railway officials said one of the three lines damaged by landslides in the Bhor Ghat section on the Mumbai–Pune route is expected to be restored by Tuesday night, a welcome sign of relief after the disruption brought train services to a standstill on Monday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange’ alert, warning of intermittent showers with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated spots, along with gusty winds reaching 60–70 kmph. All government, private and civic-run schools and colleges in Mumbai remained closed on Tuesday as a precautionary measure, officials said. Heavy showers brought Mumbai and neighbouring districts to a near standstill on Monday. Many roads were submerged, trees were uprooted, and several incidents of wall and billboard collapses were reported. The Virar-Vasai section in the neighbouring Palghar district had been inundated since Monday morning, though the water level gradually receded after the intensity of rainfall reduced by evening. The first local train departed from Virar for Churchgate in south Mumbai at 3.57 am on Tuesday, a Western Railway spokesperson said. Suburban services on all four corridors of the Central Railway were operating with some delays. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said it received 428 complaints of tree and branch falls, including 111 in the city, 126 in the eastern suburbs and 191 in the western suburbs. It also recorded 28 incidents of partial wall or house collapses during the same period. Two boys, aged 17 and 14, drowned in flood waters in Malad and Govandi areas on Monday evening, it said. Two women were injured after cement sheets from an adjoining structure collapsed while they were practising yoga at a private garden in the Lokhandwala area in Andheri. They were admitted to the hospital and reported to be in stable condition, the BMC said. Twenty-four complaints of short circuits were also reported from different parts of Mumbai, though there were no injuries, it added. The Santacruz observatory, representative of suburbs, recorded 90.4 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday, while the Colaba observatory in the island city recorded 57.2 mm. The next high tide of 3.93 metres is expected at 4.34 pm on Tuesday, while another high tide of 3.41 metres is forecast at 5.43 am on Wednesday. The low tides are expected at 11.02 pm on Tuesday and 11.07 am on Wednesday, the BMC said. Traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the Mumbai-Pune Expressway's 'Missing Link' bypass section resumed on Monday night after remaining shut for more than 18 hours following a landslide triggered by overnight heavy rains, officials said. The Mumbai-bound carriageway had been closed after a landslide near the exit of Tunnel 2, the longest tunnel on the Missing Link – which cuts through the Sahyadri mountains -- at around 4 am on Monday. Heavy rainfall triggered 22 landslides in Pune district over the last two days, officials said. Lonavala, a popular hill station in Pune district, recorded a whopping 670 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 7 am on Monday, as per official data. Restoration work on the affected railway tracks in the Bhor Ghat section is being carried out on a war footing, and the middle line is expected to be restored by Tuesday night, Central Railway's Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila told PTI. Located 75 km from Pune, Bhor Ghat -- one of the toughest ghat sections in India -- has three railway lines, up, down and middle, between Khandala and Palasdhari railway stations. "Since early morning, the rain intensity has significantly reduced, giving us a window to restore the damaged railway tracks on a war footing. One line will be restored by tonight, and we will attempt to restore the second as well. However, the third line might take some time," Nila said. Train services on the Mumbai-Pune route remained affected on Tuesday after landslides between Thakurvadi Cabin and Monkey Hill Cabin in the Lonavala-Karjat ghat section extensively damaged tracks on Monday. According to an update issued by Central Railway at noon, 14 trains were cancelled, one was partially cancelled, five were diverted, three were short-terminated, three were short-originated, and one was rescheduled due to the disruption. The cancelled trains include Pune-CSMT Deccan Express, CSMT-Pune Deccan Queen, Pune-CSMT Pragati Express, Pune-CSMT Intercity Express, Pune-CSMT Indrayani Express, CSMT-Pune Sinhagad Express, and the Pune-Solapur Intercity Express. PTI KK SPK VT GK