Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the south-west monsoon arrived in the city with a bang.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a 'red alert' for Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places there.
Maharashtra, June 09 (ANI): A view of the waterlogged railway tracks between Sion railway station and GTB Nagar railway station, in Mumbai on Wednesday. | (ANI Photo)
Mumbai: Vehicles make their way through the waterlogged road during heavy rain, at Kings Circle, in Mumbai, Wednesday, June 9, 2021. | (PTI Photo)
The first rains of this year's monsoon season in Mumbai caused water-logging in various parts of the city, prompting the traffic police to shut four subways and forcing motorists to abandon their vehicles on roads.
The heavy downpour also disrupted local train services, which are running only for personnel engaged in health and other essential services, and are out of bound for general commuters in view of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai unit of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has slammed the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) over their "tall claims of monsoon preparedness".
"The season's first rain today saw Mumbai being inundated yet again. These floods have become the norm rather than an exception, with regular occurrence year after year, and multiple times during a single monsoon season," AAP Mumbai said in a release.
Maharashtra, June 09 (ANI): People commute through a waterlogged area during rainfall, in Mumbai on Wednesday. | (ANI Photo)
Maharashtra, June 09 (ANI): A vehicle stuck due to waterlogging on the road as the city observes heavy rain, in Mumbai on Wednesday. IMD issues a red alert for Mumbai as the monsoon arrives. | (ANI Photo)
"Just yesterday, Mayor Kishori Pednekar presided over an appraisal of monsoon preparedness of BMC and its various agencies. The outcome of the meeting was 'All is well'. Moreover, the BMC went on to the extent of claiming 104% completion of nala cleaning/storm water drain's pre-monsoon cleaning. It was further claimed that the Mumbai will not flood this monsoon," it added.
AAP leader Ruben Mascarenhas took to Twitter and called out the "Mumbai model". He wrote: "The floods speak volumes of BMC's so-called monsoon preparedness! What happened to all those pumping stations? What happened to all those claims of completion of 'nullah'/ storm water drain cleaning? Mumbai Model anyone?!"
"What happened to all the pumping stations commissioned under the BRIMSTOWAD project? What happened to all the claims of completion of nala cleaning?The flood today speaks volumes of BMCs so-called monsoon preparedness." said AAP National Executive Preeti Sharma Menon.
(With PTI inputs)
