Mumbai: Fresh rain-inflicted miseries were in store for residents on the first day of new work week. Heavy rains continued to wreak havoc on Monday, with 11 people being injured after wall collapses at Shivaji Nagar in Govandi and the Paperbox Industrial Estate in Andheri. Road, rail and air traffic were thrown out of gear because of the steady downpour.
The India Meteorological Department has issued a 'red alert' for extremely heavy to very heavy rains over the next 24 hours. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at a few places with extremely heavy rain at isolated places in the districts of Raigad and Palghar and at a few places in the district of Mumbai and Thane for next three to four days,” said an IMD official.
Meanwhile, one week after the wall crash at Malad in which 27 were killed, the body of a 22-year-old woman, Sonali Sakpal, is yet to be found. Her father, who was admitted to Shatabdi Hospital, Kandivli, after being injured in the crash, got himself discharged to search for his daughter.
According to the fire brigade rescue operations department, the whole area has been cleared and no body was found.Office-goers had to brave the torrential downpour in various parts of the metropolis to reach their workplace.
There were severe traffic jams as many roads and streets were flooded. Vehicles were crawling as the rain, low visibility, and potholes only added to their problems.
At Andheri, one person sustained minor injuries when a wall crashed at the Paper Box Industrial Estate at the Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation on Monday morning. He was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. Shortly after, police and civic authorities reached the spot to clear up the debris.
People had to wade through knee-deep water in several places. Trains on Western Railway were running on time, while on the Central Railway and Harbour line trains were delayed by 10 minutes, while Main line trains were running late by 20 minutes. There was flooding on the tracks at Ghatkopar, Kanjur Marg, Sion and other stations, slowing down the movement of trains.
An official from the Mumbai International Airport Ltd said eleven flights were cancelled and operations at the airport were suspended for around 20 minutes in the morning and three city-bound flights were diverted to nearby airports.V
ehicular movement practically stopped on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) and the Western Express Highway (WEH). Commuters complained it took them more than two hours to reach Bandra from Borivli through the highway, a commute which generally takes 40 minutes.
The ongoing metro construction work has caused a space crunch on the highway and potholes on the stretch only exacerbated the troubles of those travelling by road.
“Traffic is caused by mismanagement of roads and not by the rains, BMC and MMRDA should have kept in their mind that problems like this would arise during the monsoon,” said Shweta Anand, a marketing professional and regular commuter between Goregaon and Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC).
