Updated

Mumbai, Aug 30 (Deccan Chronicle): Moderate to low rainfall persists in parts of Mumbai on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, five people were killed in Mumbai and Thane due to heavy incessant downpour.

A 32-year-old woman and a teenage girl died in Thane. The woman fell into a 'nullah' filled with rainwater in Kalwa and drowned while 14-year-old Gauri Jailwar died after falling into a swollen drain near a mall in Thane.

In suburban Vikhroli three people, including two minors, were killed in two house collapse incidents.

The city gauged a whopping 298 mm of rainfall, the highest in a day in August since 1997.

Schools and colleges will be closed on Wednesday.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted to say that people in and around Mumbai are "advised to stay back home unless there is an emergency" but "essential services" will be up.

Local train services in Mumbai in most of the lines have resumed while more buses have been pressed in for the convenience of people who are still stranded.

Flights which were either delayed or cancelled on Tuesday after heavy downpour are plying as per schedule on Wednesday.

"Operations are normal at Mumbai Airport as of now," Mumbai Airport Public Relations Officer said.

People have parked their cars on road after incessant rain and waterlogging on Tuesday.

Several houses were also damaged. The city witnessed very heavy rains in which several trees were uprooted and vehicles washed away. The downpour also caused flooding in low-lying areas.

Earlier Updates

Mumbai rains: Heavy showers for next 24 hours; stay safe, urge PM, President

Pics: Rons Bantwal
Daijiworld Media Network - Mumbai

Updated

Mumbai, Aug 29 (Agencies): The Met Department on Tuesday warned of more "heavy intermittent spells" in the next few hours in Mumbai and its satellite cities where incessant downpour has thrown normal life out of gear.

India Meteorological Department (IMD) Director General K J Ramesh said that the Santacruz weather station, which is in the suburban part of the city, has recorded 8-9 cm (80-90 mm) of rainfall from 8.30 am to nearly 11.30 am.

The Colaba weather station has recorded 15 cm to 20 cm (150-200 mm) of rainfall during the same time period, Ramesh added.

He, however, declined to draw any parallel of the situation with that on July 26, 2005, when the city was inundated after being battered by rains and hundreds were killed.

From July 26-27, 2005, Mumbai recorded 94 cm (944 mm) of rainfall in a day.

"10-15 cm of rainfall in a day is normal for Mumbai. The one the city received on July 26, 2005 was unprecedented," Ramesh said.

He also said the IMD office in Mumbai was giving updates to the BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) and the state government at regular intervals.

The IMD has already given heavy to very heavy rainfall warning to Maharashtra and Gujarat governments, he said.

"Intermittent rain with heavy to very heavy fall at some places is likely to occur in city and the suburbs," the IMD Mumbai said.

PM Modi, President Kovind urge citizens to stay safe

Taking stock of the heavy rainfall in Maharashtra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday assured full assistance to the state government in mitigating the situation.

The Prime Minister also urged people of Mumbai to take precautions to stay safe.

"Urge people of Mumbai &surrounding areas to stay safe& take all essential precautions in the wake of heavy rain," he tweeted.

President Ram Nath Kovind also tweeted in support of Mumbaikars and said he was glad to know that citizens and groups were voluntarily coming together to help.

“Thoughts with families, especially children, in Mumbai and western parts of the country hit by heavy downpour.”

He assured the citizens that the government and public agencies are taking all steps amid heavy rains.

Earlier on Tuesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis also appealed to people to step out of their homes only if necessary.

Fadnavis also visited the State Disaster Management Control room to oversee the present scenario.

In a series of tweets, the Prime Minister said that he also spoke to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on the situation arising due to incessant rain.

"Centre assures all possible support to Maharashtra govt in mitigating the situation due to heavy rains in parts of the state," Prime Minister Modi said in a tweet.

Earlier Report

Torrential rains drown Mumbai, national disaster teams on alert

Mumbai, Aug 29 (Deccan Chronicle): Heavy rainfall drowned Mumbai and its nearby areas on Tuesday and it looked like there was little respite in sight with the Met department predicting more showers over the next 24 hours.

It has been raining incessantly since Monday, preceded by moderate to heavy showers over the weekend. Officials believe this is the heaviest and longest bout of rain since July 26, 2005 when the city was ravaged by floods.

Civic authorities asked people to keep indoors but it was too late for most, who waded through dirty brown waters to offices. At some places, vehicles could barely be seen above water. There were also the only-too-familiar sites of thick branches nestling on shattered windshields or dented car tops.

Traffic crawled on major arterial roads the whole day while waterlogging was reported from low-lying areas, some right at the heart of the city.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, on Tuesday predicted intermittent rain with heavy to very heavy showers in parts of the city and “extremely heavy” rainfall at “one or two places in the city and suburbs”.

Three teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), stationed in Mumbai, have been put on alert and two additional teams have been moved from Pune to Mumbai, according to ANI.

The civic body's control room monitored the situation the whole day. It was also told that water had entered the King Edward Memorial Hospital.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) assured the situation was under control and advised citizens to step out only if necessary.

“The metropolis has received heavy rainfall since last night. Between 8.30 am and 12 pm today, the city received 85 mm rainfall," Sudhir Naik, Deputy Municipal Commissioner, told PTI.

"Step out of home only if it is too important because waterlogging has been reported from several parts of the city," he said.

Naik, however, added things were well under control and senior civic officials were keeping a close watch on the situation.

An officer at the BMC's Disaster Management Cell said, "There have been reports of waterlogging in Dadar, Andheri, Worli, Kurla and Sakinaka, among other areas. Despite the heavy downpour, no untoward incident has been reported so far.”

To make matters worse, a high tide of 3.32 meters was also headed the city's way early Tuesday evening. Actor-turned-entrepreneur Gul Panag tweeted, "Brace yourself Mumbai. Heavy rain coming. Plan ahead. Stay safe."

Mumbai's transport lifeline, the local trains, were running late on all three city routes. Services were also stopped in some areas due to flooded tracks. Some trains stood for hours in between stations because of the rains.

On Tuesday morning, Nagpur-Mumbai Duronto Express derailed in Maharashtra's Asangaon, near Mumbai. The railway authorities said initial inputs suggested the train went off tracks due to a major landslide.