Heavy rains, traffic jam put Mumbai out of gear

Heavy rain have lashed Mumbai, starting last night, resulting in major traffic jams across the city.

The city recorded 162.8 mm and 116 mm at Colaba and Santa Cruz, respectively, from 8.30 am yesterday to 8.30 am today. The metereological department said there would be heavy to very heavy rainfall at various places in all districts of Thane, Raigad and Greater Mumbai in the next 24 hours.

The Disaster Management and Centralised Complaint Registration System departments of Greater Mumbai said several pumps were dispatched to low-lying areas to suck out water. “There is no need to worry. It is just a normal rainfall and we are fully prepared,” said an official.

A Central Railway official said, “Trains on the Central line had an average delay of half an hour on all major stations. However, there have been no cancellations.” According to a Western line railway official, there was no major delay, except for one of 10 minutes in the late morning. There were also traffic disruptions on the Eastern and Western Express Highways.

There was, however, no major delay in air traffic. According to a spokesperson of the Mumbai International Airport Ltd, “Only five flights have been delayed. No cancellations have occurred.”