Saturday morning brought some respite for Mumbaikars as the heavy rain, which has lashed the city from Friday evening, took a break in many parts. However, life was thrown out of gear in areas beyond Kalyan in neighbouring Thane district as the Ulhas and Waldhuni rivers overflowed.
Heavy rains led to extreme waterlogging and the Ulhas river overflowed near Vangani in the Kalyan-to-Karjat section of Central Railway, which led to the suspension of services in that stretch. Railway policemen were pressed into service overnight on Friday to rescue passengers stranded in suburban trains. Many of these passengers were rescued and taken to the nearest railway stations.
The Kolhapur-bound Mahalaxmi Express got stranded near Vangani on the outskirts of Mumbai due to rising water levels on Friday night. According to the Central Railway, 700 people are on board the train. NDRF teams with boats reached the spot. Also, rescue teams from the Navy, including diving teams, with inflatable boats and life jackets were pressed into service to rescue the stranded passengers.
“RPF and city police have reached the site where the Mahalaxmi Express is held up. They are distributing biscuits and water to the stranded passengers,” Railway authorities said in the morning.
Due to the flooding in the stretch, train services between Mumbai and Pune remain suspended. Many trains coming to Mumbai have been short-terminated and will return to their originating stations from Pune. However, services on other suburban lines in Mumbai are functioning.
In Mumbai and Thane city, there has been respite as the intensity of rainfall reduced in many parts. There was severe waterlogging in areas such as Sion and Chembur due to the heavy overnight rain. However, the break in rains will help the water levels reduce.
The Indian Meteorological Department said around 150-180mm rainfall was received in the Mumbai suburbs in the last 24 hours and it has predicted intermittent rain, with heavy-to-very-heavy downpour, in Mumbai city and suburbs on Saturday.
NDRF teams have been deployed in various parts of the city to deal with any emergency and rescue stranded passengers.
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Heavy downpours also disrupted flight movements at the city’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport. On Friday, 17 flights were diverted from Mumbai and on Saturday at least seven flights have been cancelled. Passengers taking flights out of Mumbai could also expect delays in departures.