Mumbai traffic back on track after heavy rains batter city

Mumbai: Vehicular and rail traffic in Mumbai resumed on Thursday, a day after heavy rains battered the city, inundating low-lying areas, halting local trains in their tracks and forcing the diversion of at least 14 incoming flights.

A 45-year-old woman drowned in a drain overflowing due to heavy rains in suburban Andheri on Wednesday, police said. The police helped a woman, who was in her ninth month of pregnancy, reach a hospital in Ghatkopar after she was unable to find a vehicle to go there due to heavy rains at night, an official said.

Rains stopped in most parts of the city on Thursday morning though skies were overcast.

Local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, were running normally though some services were slightly delayed, as per officials.

Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking also hit the roads since early morning.

The India Meteorological Department earlier issued a red alert for Mumbai and its adjoining districts Thane, Palghar, and Raigad for Thursday morning.

The civic body said the IMD has predicted “thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and heavy to very heavy rainfall with gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph” in its weather update issued at 8 am.

The extremely heavy rainfall in Mumbai on Wednesday prompted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) to announce a holiday for all schools and colleges on Thursday.

Schools and colleges in Thane, Palghar, Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad were also closed on Thursday after heavy rains.

The Mumbai civic body and police have advised people in the city and surrounding areas to stay indoors as much as possible.