Pre-monsoon showers in Mumbai suburbs hit train services

Parts of Mumbai today received pre-monsoon showers in the evening, which brought a relief from the scorching heat, but affected the suburban train services, causing inconvenience to the commuters.
The pre-monsoon showers lashed some suburbs of the metropolis and also parts of Thane and Navi Mumbai.
An official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said that light rains and drizzles were also reported in some districts like Sangli, Osmanabad and Kolhapur.
"In the month of May, such pre-monsoon thunder showers are quite usual," the official said.
"Suburban Chembur witnessed mild rainfall, though it did not hit the road traffic," an official from disaster management department of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

However, the central and harbour lines of the Central Railway were affected by the unseasonal rains during the peak evening hours.

"Suburban trains stopped at Chembur on the harbour line and at Ghatkopar on the main corridor of Central Railway after technical snag in overhead equipment were reported in the evening. Our team of engineers swung into action and rectified it soon," CR's senior spokesperson A K Jain said.
"The services resumed on the harbour (up) line at 8.09 pm and at 8.14 at (down) line. Main line services between Matunga and Kurla were restored at 8.21 pm, while services near Ghatkopar were restored at 8.32 pm," he said.

Describing his experience, a commuter of central line said, "I took the 7.33 pm Kalyan local from Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST). When the local reached Ghatkopar, it was raining and suddenly I heard few explosions in the train's overhead equipment and it stopped moving."
He, however, acknowledged that announcement system were in place and was rectified within time.
In its forecast for tomorrow, the IMD has said rains and thundershowers are very likely in parts of Maharashtra tomorrow afternoon or in the evening.