Mumbai: Following Monday's torrential rain that wreaked havoc on air, train and road traffic, Mumbai experienced a much-needed respite on Tuesday, bringing relief to the citizens. Water levels in the low-lying areas had receded by Tuesday morning and suburban rail services were back on track. All schools and colleges in the city were closed owing to the India Meteorological Department's warning of a “red alert” on Tuesday. However, there was no heavy rain, helping the city to return to normalcy.
However, the aftermath of Monday's deluge continued to pose challenges for both the city and suburban road traffic. Several areas were waterlogged after heavy rainfall between 7pm to 11pm on Monday. Flooded areas include Hindmata, Gandhi Market, Dadar TT, Sakar panchayat in Wadala, Sion circle, Parel TT, Kurla station, Andheri subway and Malvani. In the 24-hour period from Monday 8am to Tuesday 8am, 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.
The Harbour line services, which were suspended on Monday night between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Mankhurd due to waterlogging at Wadala, resumed at 4.30am 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 the CR network that were stranded since Monday reached their respective destinations in the city by 9.20am on Tuesday.
While Tuesday brought respite from rain fury, the lingering Monday blues 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 the Kamani Junction. According to motorists,the vehicular movement was affected up to Air India Road in Santacruz’s Kalina.
Adding insult to injury, potholes emerged on the ill-maintained stretch near the Bhandup-Nahur flyover on the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), which connects to the Mulund-Airoli Link Road. Craters slowed down traffic, leading to jams at Lal Bahadur Shastri Road and the EEH; especially towards Navi Mumbai and Thane. Another major connector that needs urgent maintenance is the pothole-riddled Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR).
For those plying on the Bandra-Kurla Complex connector, the waterlogging situation continued to prevail on Tuesday. While the traffic police said that the problem was only “for some time”, motorists rued that the situation continued to be bad despite no rains. “The movement was slow and the drizzling rain continued to be a problem on Tuesday morning. Hope, the authorities do something for us citizens to relieve us from the everyday torture of suffering on Mumbai roads,” said motorist Prakash Garud.
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On Tuesday afternoon, three women, including a 16-year-old, were injured in a structural mishap reported from the Sky apartment in Borivali West. A roof portion of a room located on the fourth floor fell came crashing on the third floor. The trio was admitted to civic-run Shatabdi hospital in Kandivali. Their condition is stable, confirmed the civic officials.
