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Rain hits normal life in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Gurgaon

Sat 30 Jul 2016, 10:16:45

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai late on Thursday night, slowing down the early morning and peak hour rail, road and air traffic in the commercial capital and its suburbs.

Traffic jams were reported from arterial roads like Western Express Highway, Eastern Express Highway and Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road as people struggled to get to work. Services of the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) were delayed by 10 to 15 minutes in the morning, though was resorted to normalcy by afternoon. The CR’s Trans-Harbour services were the worst-hit among the four lines.

Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (CSIA) experienced delays up to 20 minutes in take-offs and landings of flights. There were reports of heavy rain in Mumbai and the three adjoining districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad. The fresh spell of rain started on Thursday evening.

However, it intensified around midnight and continued till the early hours – resulting in water-logging at several parts of low-lying areas of Mumbai like Sion, King’s Circle, Andheri Subway and Kurla.

The Regional Meteorological Observatory predicted heavy rain for the next 48 hours for the city and the Konkan coast. “Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places in districts of North Konkan during 96 hours in South Konkan-Goa during the next 120 hours,” the weathermen said, predicting a wet weekend.

Bengaluru Rain Havoc

The breach of three lakes, unprecedented in scale, flooded vast stretches of the city on Friday, triggering problems for Bengalureans. The city also witnessed massive traffic snarls, particularly on the Outer Ring Road, Hosur Road, Whitefield and arterial roads.

Madiwala, Kodichikkanahalli and Kasavanahalli lakes breached following heavy rain early on Friday measuring 41.8 mm, the highest in the past seven years. The floods left a few thousand houses in south-east Bengaluru marooned.

The situation might get worse as the India Meteorological Department has forecast rain for the next three days. Encroachment of stormwater drains and indiscriminate dumping of waste in

the lake waste weirs are said to have caused the breach.

Mayor B N Manjunath Reddy, who visited the affected areas, admitted that encroachment of stormwater drains was primarily responsible for the breach of lakes.

Dubbed one of the biggest rain relief and rescue operations in Bengaluru, personnel from multiple agencies like the National Disaster Response Force, Fire and Emergency Services, BBMP, Bescom and the police were pressed into service to clear waterlogging till late on Friday.

Gurgaon Heavy rain

Thousands of office goers and other commuters were on Friday stranded in Gurgaon as heavy rain led to waterlogging on National Highway 8. The downpour caused massive traffic jams, forcing authorities to shut down schools in Delhi’s satellite. Some offices also declared holiday.

Many motorists abandoned their vehicles and waded through knee-deep water which accumulated on both the carriageways of Delhi-Jaipur road, including Hero Honda Chowk, bringing traffic to a standstill with the tailback extending up to 15-20 km.

The chaos started on Thursday itself after heavy rain led to waterlogging near Hero Honda Chowk from 4 pm as the main drain overflowed. The NH 8, which is the main carriageway from Delhi to Jaipur, was choked with hundreds of trucks unable to move and the situation worsened as morning commuters, too, came on the road.

Gurgaon’s central Hero Honda Chowk remained inundated. An underconstruction underpass and flyover near the Chowk led to a diversion at the spot which further slowed the traffic, while the drainage system failed completely. Gurgaon Police has issued an advisory asking people coming to the city from Delhi to avoid travelling.

“People coming to Gurgaon from Delhi are advised to stay back today (Friday) to avoid being stuck in traffic jams due to flooding on roads,” it said on Twitter.

Deputy Commissioner of Gurgaon, T L Satyaprakash, on Friday declared a two-day holiday in Gurgaon schools. Some MNCs also declared a day-off in Gurgaon as their vehicles, which pick and drop employees, were stranded in traffic.

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