Heavy rain disrupted traffic and local train services in Mumbai on Friday as several districts of Maharashtra witnessed heavy downpour. The situation does not seem to be improving for commuters in Mumbai on Saturday as the India Meteorological department has predicted widespread rain in many parts of Maharashtra.
The Met department has issued a red alert for Palghar district and an orange alert for Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Raigad, and Thane districts for the next 2 days. Also, the weather department has predicted that Mumbai is likely to receive heavy rainfall on Saturday.
According to data shared by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Mumbai on Friday received 73.6 mm of rainfall in 10 hours between 8 AM and 6 PM whereas the Eastern Suburbs received 88.30 mm and the Western Suburbs received 63.29 mm of rainfall.
Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) also warned about heavy rain on July 22 in Mumbai. “Heavy rainfall in Mumbai city and suburbs with possibility of very heavy rainfall at isolated places,” BMC tweeted.
In the past 2-3 days, the intensity of the rainfall has increased in Mumbai, leading to massive disruptions on road and local train services. Several local trains were delayed or cancelled on Friday and the many local trains are running late on Saturday.
Harbour Line local services, connecting Mumbai and Navi Mumbai, were also affected on Friday, due to waterlogging on tracks at several places. Central Railway on Friday evening announced that all the section trains were operating and the Harbour line, which connects Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Panvel/Goregaon, was running around 15 minutes late.
Also, the down harbor line of the Kurla railway station was closed in the wake of the waterlogging situation.
"Navi Mumbai-bound DOWN track was suspended temporarily owing to water logging," Chief Public Relations Officer of Central Railways Dr. Shivraj Manaspure told news agency PTI.
Meanwhile, the transport department also directed bus drivers to take safe routes and avoid waterlogged roads.
The schools in Palghar and Thane districts would remain closed on Saturday due to heavy rain. The district administration had issued an order on Friday to keep the schools closed for two days due to disruptions caused by heavy rain.
Meanwhile, IMD has predicted widespread rain for several other states on Saturday. While Himachal Pradesh and East Rajasthan will witness isolated to heavy rain, light to moderate rainfall is likely to hit the Konkan and Goa, ghat areas of Madhya Pradesh and Gujarat for the next two days.
