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PHOTOS: Mumbai received 10 days worth of rain in 24 hours; 2 killed

Last updated on: June 19, 2015 20:20 IST

Heavy rains pummelled Mumbai and its suburbs in which two persons died of electrocution and bringing normal life to a grinding halt on Friday with several areas waterlogged and local train services cancelled leaving thousands of commuters stranded.

A motorcyclist is helped by others as he rides through a flooded road due to heavy rains in Mumbai. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

As civic authorities described the rainfall in the country's financial capital as ‘unprecedented’, they said 283 mm of rain, which is normally received in 10 days, was witnessed in just 24 hours.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

The Mithi River is around the danger mark, according to Yuva Sena Chief Aditya Thackeray. Educational institutions were shut and government and private offices reported thin attendance.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

The Bombay high court and other courts were also shut.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

"The city has witnessed unprecedented rainfall in the last 24 hours, more than that the city usually receives in 10 days. Mumbai witnessed 283 mm of rain in 24 hours," the  city's Municipal Commissioner Ajoy Mehta told media persons.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

“Of the total annual average rainfall Mumbai witnesses, 10 per cent of it has been received in 24 hours, which usually takes 10 days," he added.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

There seems to be no let up in the situation with the Meteorological Department predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall in the next 24 hours.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

According to an official of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation disaster management unit, a five-year-old boy and a 60-year-old woman died of electrocution in Wadala in central Mumbai.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

The airport was operational but flight operations at the city airport were delayed by up to 45 minutes and three services had to be diverted due to incessant rain that has been lashing the financial capital since late Thursday evening.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

There was also massive disruption of vehicular traffic with waist-high waterlogging being reported in several areas. The rainwater also entered several homes.

Photograph: Sahil Salvi

Mehta said Friday’s high tide witnessed in the city was of more than 3 metres high and Mumbai is likely to witness high tides of more than 4 metres, one at about 2 am and another at about 3:10 pm on Saturday.

Western Railway train service, which had halted earlier in the day, resumed at 4.20 pm from Churchgate. Photograph: Sahil Salvi 

"Since there is heavy rainfall along with a high tide expected on Saturday, people should stay away from the seas and ensure that they do not walk on the promenade. Also, before leaving their homes, people should make sure that the route they plan to take is safe for travel," he said.

A man and woman wade through knee-deep water at the low-lying area of Hindmata. Photograph: Sahil Salvi

The rains caused water-logging in almost all low-lying areas of Mumbai and its suburbs including Kurla, Chembur, Tilak Nagar, Andheri, Parel, Lower Parel, Thane, Navi Mumbai and Dombivili.

People cross a flooded street during heavy rains in Mumbai on Friday. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

The heavy rains also forced the Shiv Sena to cancel its foundation day event.

Vehicles are stuck in a traffic jam during the rains. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Thousands of commuters leaving for offices were caught unaware on reaching the suburban railway stations as trains were being cancelled due to water-logging of tracks following heavy downpour since Thursday night.

A man carries a boy as they cross a flooded street. Photograph: Danish Siddiqui/Reuters

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis appealed to people to venture out only if required and asked them to stay away from seafronts during high tide slots as it can prove ‘fatal’.

Heavy rains uprooted trees in the city. This picture was taken outside Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri, Mumbai. Photograph: ‏@sameeratweeter/Twitter

After taking stock of the situation at BMC disaster management cell, he also suggested to the public to refer to advisories being issued by the civic body on an hourly-basis before leaving home.

Tracks are flooded at Nalasopara station on the outskirts of Mumbai. Photograph: @jaishreelalla12/Twitter  

Narrating his ordeal, Nalasopara resident Atul Panday, an executive working with Alkem Laboratories said, "Normally, it takes me 50 minutes to reach Andheri from Nalasopara, but on Friday it took around two hours." 

Photograph: ANI/Twitter

Hashtags like #mumbairains started trending on the micro-blogging website Twitter.

Those who did not tweet, updated their friends over WhatsApp, which has the ability to form closed-user groups. With "train-friend" being a very unique peculiarity for the city-dwellers, such messages of advice and caution soon started flooding dedicated groups of such friends.

Scenes of flooded tracks, overflowing platforms and railway indicators struggling were shared over applications like Facebook and Instagram by netizens.

 

However, the city lived up to its reputation for its warmth and camaraderie, with instant offers for car-pooling and help coming through social media as well as offline.

Pankaj Gupta tweeted offering a pick-up for anybody from Powai to Mahape in Navi Mumbai, where he was travelling. Similarly, Zubin Nallawala offered a lift to anyone travelling from Worli in central Mumbai to Fort.

Unlike the deluge of July 2006, which had seen telecom services shut down completely, the voice and data networks remained unaffected today, leading to a very active usage of such online media tools.

 

Social media engagement was not limited to individuals alone, and utilities like Central Railway also made best use of the medium to reach to the public. 

The Central Railway twitter handle was among the most active ones, sending out updates on train movements and re-scheduling of long distance services.

The Mumbai Metro, which was among the few modes of transport which continued operations, also used Twitter to send out much needed messages.

As the day wore on, the same media were used artfully to send out humorous messages about the monsoon.

Photographs: Ashish Soni/Rediff.com

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