One Person Electrocuted as Mumbai Crawls After Heavy Showers, More Rainfall Predicted

Mumbai: A person was electrocuted and three were killed after being struck by lightning as rain pounded Mumbai and many parts of Maharashtra for the fourth consecutive day, disrupting normal life and hitting air, road and rail traffic, officials said on Monday.

A 30-year-old man, Mohammed Ayub Kazi, was electrocuted inside his home in Shivajinagar, Govandi suburb in north-east Mumbai. He was rushed to the Rajawadi Hospital where he was declared dead.

Three others, including a woman, were killed and two injured after being struck by ligtning as they took shelter from heavy rain in a shed in Solapur on Monday afternoon.

"The five victims were waiting for the rains to subside in a shed near the Mandrup village when suddenly lighting struck them. The three killed are Parvati M Kore, 55, Chatursingh J Rajput, 41 and Sanket D Chormule, 17. The other two have been rushed to the district hospital," said Mandrup police official Baburao Rathod.

Mumbai residents woke up to heavy rains on Monday, with the downpour resulting in water logging in several areas of the city and leading to traffic congestion on roads and delays in train movement.

The Meteorological Department warned of "extremely heavy" rainfall in adjoining areas of Thane and Palghar on July 2, 4 and 5. A few places in Mumbai could get heavy to very heavy rainfall Monday and Tuesday, it added.

Though there was a respite from the heavy showers in the afternoon, trains were running late on all the lines. In a few areas like Chembur, water entered houses, prompting citizens to blame the BMC.

"The civic administration has not done enough to avoid such a mess during rains," said P Krishnakumar, a Chembur resident, as he surveyed water in his house.

Areas like Hindmata, Parel, Lalbaug, Senapati Bapat road were water-logged. Water-logging was also witnessed in a few buildings in Wadala.

Wall collapse incidents were reported from 12 places in the city. A retaining wall collapsed in Ashwa Garden in Sewree, but nobody was injured, police said.

Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said 540 mm of rain fell in two days in the city, the highest over a two-day period in a decade.

Pardeshi also blamed climate change and geographical conditions for flooding at several places in Mumbai.

The inundation is due to high amount of built-up area in Mumbai and the low proportion of water seepage into the ground in the last 50 years, he said.

Railway tracks between Sion and Matunga stations were submerged and movement of local trains was slowed down considerably.

Children swam knee-deep waters of what otherwise is a busy road in Hindmata area of Dadar.

A huge crowd was seen at the Thane station as heavy rains delayed train services on the Central Railway line.

Heavy rains during the night and on Monday morning in Mumbai and its outskirts inundated low-lying areas, delayed trains and slowed down vehicular movement on roads.

Several local train services, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were cancelled or short-terminated as a temporary bamboo structure erected for civil work fell on an overhead wire near the Marine Lines station on the Western line, an official said.

The vehicular movement from suburbs towards south Mumbai and the Bandra-Kurla Complex, where several corporate houses and private companies are located, was slow due to the incessant showers.

There was waterlogging at several pockets in the suburbs, due to which trains were running slow on the Central line as well.

In view of the heavy rains in Palghar district of Maharashtra and a rail track suffering damage near Lonavala hill station in Pune, 17 long-distance trains of the Western Railway (WR) and more than 10 of the Central Railway (CR) were cancelled in the morning, the official said.

Due to submergence of rail tracks at a few places in Palghar, some trains were also short-terminated, a WR official said.

A goods train derailed in the early hours of Monday in the Western Ghat section between Karjat and Lonavala, affecting the movement of several long-distance trains going towards Pune and western Maharashtra, a CR official said.

Some trains were also short-terminated and others diverted via Kalyan-Igatpuri-Manmad section. The shuttle train services between Mumbai and Pune were also affected, the official said.

Thousands of state government employees and private staff were not able to go to work, a government official said.

A citizen who uses the Western Express Highway regularly said a number of potholes on the road posed problems for commuters, adding that it exposed the poor quality of repair works done by the civic body.

There will be a 3.84 metre high tide at around 10.54 pm Monday, civic officials said and warned people not to go close to the sea during this period. The high tides occur due to gravitational pull between the earth and the moon.

"Mumbai, we understand its not been an easy Monday, but its also been a rain spell like ever before - its the highest in a decade. 550 mm average of entire month of June has been exceeded in just last 48 hrs. We are truly trying our best. We request a bit of caution & patience," the BMC tweeted.