Mumbai slowly returns to normalcy but commuting woes continue

Schools and colleges opened and lakhs of commuters clambered on to overcrowded trains to make a perilous journey to work as the rain subsided and India's Maximum City slowly returned to normalcy on Wednesday.

A day after the heaviest rain since 2005 brought the country's financial capital to its knees, leading to a wall collapse in which 22 people were killed, the waters receded from several parts of the city.

As people in low-lying areas began to pick up the pieces from Tuesday's rain mayhem, clearing their homes of the sludge that had come with the waters, a Mumbai civic body official said public transport was normal.

Lakhs of citizens commuting on suburban trains had a tough time due to curtailed operations on certain routes.

The heavy rush of passengers at various stations in morning peak hours prompted the Central Railway (CR) to revoke its earlier decision to operate train services in the Mumbai division according to the Sunday timetable in which fewer trains operate.

However, lakhs of passengers bore the brunt of the move to operate curtailed services and were stranded at suburban stations.

As fewer services were operated, commuters found it tough to board trains which were heavily crowded.

Many commuters took to Twitter to express their anguish over curtailed train services and the resultant huge rush.

"We have cancelled the Sunday schedule for operating trains. Central Railway suburban services are now running with the normal weekday schedule," Central Railway chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi told PTI.

While CR commuters struggled to board trains, services of the Western Railway were running smoothly since morning, officials said.

According to a spokesperson of BEST undertaking, which operates the largest fleet of buses in Mumbai and its suburbs, 2,950 of 3,203 buses were plying on Wednesday.

Air travellers were also hit with about 75 flights cancelled.

On Tuesday, airlines cancelled 203 services due to the incessant rain and operations being suspended on the main runway, where an aircraft got stuck. It would take about 48 hours to remove the plane, officials had said.

Private weather agency Skymet said Mumbai is at "serious risk of flooding" between Wednesday and Friday.

At 375.2 mm, the rainfall in the 24-hour period before 8.30 am Tuesday was the highest since the July 26, 2005, deluge in Mumbai