Mumbai Recovers Slowly After Torrential Rain: Suburban Railways Resume, Roads Struggle With Potholes And Traffic

Mumbai: Following Monday's torrential rain that wreaked havoc on air, train, and road traffic, the city experienced a much-needed respite on Tuesday with minimal rainfall, bringing relief to its citizens. Water levels in low-lying areas had receded by Tuesday morning, and suburban rail services were back on track.

However, the aftermath of Monday's deluge continued to pose challenges for both city and suburban roads, compounded by incidents like a roof collapse in Borivali West that injured three women.

Several areas were again water logged after heavy rainfall continued till Monday night. In the 24-hour period from Monday 8 am to Tuesday 8 am, the island city recorded an average of 141.97 mm rainfall, while the eastern and western parts received 116.61 mm and 142.58 mm rain, respectively.

All schools and colleges in the city were closed owing to the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) warning of a "red alert" for the city on Tuesday. A red alert indicates heavy to very heavy rainfall in a few places with extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places.

However, there was not much rainfall on Tuesday, which helped to normalise the situation in the city. Several areas were waterlogged after heavy rainfall between 7 pm to 11 pm on Monday. The water accumulated in areas such as Hindmata, Gandhi market, Dadar TT, Sakar panchayat in Wadala, Sion circle, Parel T.T., Kurla station, Andheri subway, Chiku wadi Malvani etc. took time to recede.

Currently, no areas are water logged. The Harbour Line track, on which services were suspended on Monday night between the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Mankhurd due to waterlogging at Wadala, was operationalised at 4.30 am on Tuesday after the water receded.

All suburban and mail express trains ran smoothly on the Central and Western Railways on Tuesday. The mail express trains on CR that were stranded since Monday due to incessant rains reached their respective destinations by 9.20 am on Tuesday. Though there was no significant rainfall on Tuesday, the destruction from Monday continued to disrupt traffic on city and suburban roads.

In the afternoon, major traffic snarls were reported at Kurla’s Kalpana Junction, which stretched up to Kamani junction. According to motorists, the traffic snarls affected the movement up to Air India Road in Santacruz’s Kalina.

The already bad roads near Bhandup-Nahur flyover on Eastern Express Highway - that connects to Mulund-Airoli Link Road saw massive potholes, suspected to be worsened due to Monday’s torrential rain. Given this, traffic movement slowed down, affecting traffic jams further at Lal Bahadur Shastri Road and EEH - especially towards the direction of Navi Mumbai and Thane.

Another major city connector that needs urgent maintenance by the authorities is the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) which is pothole-ridden. On Monday, motorists had a bad time plying on the road given the gusty winds and rain that caused low visibility. On Tuesday, it was bad conditions of the road that slowed down the traffic movement.

Meanwhile, at the Bandra-Kurla Complex connector, which was waterlogged on Monday, Tuesday morning saw a similar situation. The traffic police said that it was only “for some time”, but motorists said the situation continued to be bad regardless of the no rain.

“The movement was slow, and the drizzling rain continued to be a problem on Tuesday morning as well. Hope the authorities do something for us citizens to relieve us from the everyday torture of suffering on Mumbai roads,” said Prakash Garud, a motorist.

Part of the roof of a room on the fourth floor fell onto the third floor, injuring three women. The incident occurred in 'Sky' apartment in Borivali West on Tuesday afternoon. The victims identified as Mangal Selvakumar (46 years), Shalini Selvakumar (25 years) and Ruhika Selvakumar (16 years) were admitted to civic- run Shatabdi hospital in Kandivali. Their condition is stable, confirmed the civic officials.