Heavy rain in Mumbai for 2nd day; flight services hit

Mumbai: Heavy rain pounded the city and suburbs for the second day on Wednesday, disrupting flight operations at the Mumbai airport and delaying suburban train services in the financial capital.

According to an official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) disaster management cell, no untoward incident was reported after the incessant downpour.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region have been instructed to remain closed today in view of heavy rains.

"Several parts of the metropolis, including South Mumbai, Borivali, Kandivili, Andheri and Bhandup, received heavy rainfall. However, no untoward incident has been reported so far from any part of the city," he said.

The Mumbai Police has warned of a high tide at 12.03 pm and 6.04 pm today.

From 8.30 am yesterday to 5.30 am today, the Colaba observatory recorded 210 mm rain, while the Santacruz observatory recorded 303.7 mm rain in the period, according to the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD).

Fishermen have been warned against venturing into the deep sea, an IMD official said.

Flight operations at the Mumbai airport were affected due to heavy rains and low visibility.

The skidding of a SpiceJet aircraft on the main runway (09/27) last night compounded the problem further as it forced the private airport operator to shift operations to the secondary runway, which can carry out limited operations.

The SpiceJet Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 183 people overshot a wet runway while landing at the airport in rain-hit Mumbai and got stuck in the mud, officials said yesterday, adding that all passengers were safely evacuated.

As many as 56 flights were diverted to different airports till this morning as the main runway continued to be out of use due to the SpiceJet aircraft stuck there, an airport

official said.

The main runway at the Mumbai airport is unlikely to be functional before this evening as the SpiceJet aircraft remained stuck on it.

The Mumbai airport operator has been given NOTAM (notice to airmen) for the main runway till 2 pm, which means the flight operations cannot be carried out on it till that time, a senior official of the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said today.

The clearing of the main runway may take a longer time than expected and the operations there are unlikely to resume before evening, the official said.

Following the downpour, several airlines issued travel advisories to passengers.

The Mumbai airport, the country's second busiest airport, handles 930 flights per day with an average of 48 movements per hour.