After heavy showers crippled Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray reviewed the situation and instructed officials to be alert and prepared, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rainfall for Thursday as well. Extremely heavy to heavy rain is expected in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts in the week, the IMD said.CM Thackeray also appealed to people to stay indoors and venture out only for essential work.
Sharing details of the rainfall the city received from 8:30 am till 5:30 pm, the IMD tweeted, “Rainfall received at Colaba: 22.9 cm, Santacruz: 8.8 cm. Presently strong winds with speed reaching 70 Kmph along the coast are prevailing and likely to continue during the next 3-4 hours.”
“CM UddhavBalasaheb Thackeray reviewed the situation with district collectors of Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Kolhapur, Thane and Raigad districts as they have been experiencing heavy rainfall,” the CMO said. Meanwhile, Mumbai Police has advised Mumbaikars to stay indoors and not venture out unless it is extremely essential. “Practice all necessary precautions and do not venture out near the shore or waterlogged areas,” Mumbai Police said.
In the wake of the heavy downpour in Mumbai, major areas were submerged and the city came to a standstill. After the alert from the Met department, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) stayed on high alert and urged people to stay indoors. After very intense rainfall with strong winds reaching 70kmph south Mumbai areas like Girgaon, Madanpura, Byculla, Babulnath and Worli reported heavy waterlogging throughout the day. For the first time, citizens witnessed such a severe waterlogging scenario in the south areas of Mumbai. Several pictures and videos were uploaded displaying the waterlogging and the area completely sunk in rain water. Netizens came up with shocking and condemning reactions on the internet.
Chief Minister Thackeray took stock of the situation on Wednesday and asked the BMC to coordinate with the police, railway authorities, health machinery and the National Disaster Response Force to ensure that citizens do not face any hardships during incessant rains.
Also, a statement was released by CMO stating that CM has directed the authorities to monitor the situation arising out of interruption in power supply, uprooted trees and waterlogging affecting the city.
With the flood-like situation due to incessant rains, two local trains were stuck between Masjid and Byculla stations in Mumbai due to water on tracks. As many as 150 passengers from the first local going from CST to Karjat have been rescued by railway staff. About 100- 120 are still inside. Another local which was coming from Karjat to CST got stranded at about 60 metres from Masjid station which had around 60 passengers. Water was about 2.5 to 3 feet deep beneath and soon a team of NDRF was sent for rescue of the stranded passengers.
On Wednesday, shops on both sides of the road and malls opened after four months of lockdown. But due to the “red alert”, many staff of the shops could not come and more than 50% shops could not open; the same was the case with malls. Water went inside the shops and damaged the goods and furniture in many south Mumbai areas like Chowpaty, Pedder Road, Marine Lines, Breach Candy, Nana Chowk, Tardeo, Parel.
With inputs from agencies