Mumbai rain: 24 die as heavy downpour paralyses city
Around 203 flights have been cancelled.
Heavy overnight rain in Mumbai and neighbouring areas killed at least 24 people on Tuesday, and injured at least 10 people. Two men drowned in their car in a subway in Malad after their car’s doors got stuck. Train services were again curtailed early on Tuesday following heavy downpour. The Maharashtra government declared a holiday for all schools and colleges in the state.
In Pune, six labourers died and three were injured after a wall collapsed in Ambegaon area on Monday night. A wall collapsed in Kalyan in Thane district early on Tuesday killing three people.
Around 203 flights have been cancelled in Mumbai due to the heavy downpour. The main runway of the airport is likely to be operational only by Thursday.
10.30 pm: Around 203 flights have been cancelled in Mumbai due to the heavy downpour, reports PTI. “A total of 203 flights were cancelled at the Mumbai airport due to inclement weather and non-availability of the main runway for operations,” says an airport official.
8.59 pm: Seventy domestic flights scheduled to arrive in Mumbai and 81 domestic departures from the city have been cancelled, ANI quotes Mumbai International Airport as saying.
7.48 pm: A security guard in Mumbai’s Mulund area died after a compound wall collapsed on him late on Monday night, reports The Indian Express. According to News18, the incident occurred in Madella town society. The watchman was identified as Gambhir Kari Singh. The toll in rain-related incidents has gone up to 24.
6.57 pm: A 52-year-old woman has died in a lightning strike in Bhendevad village in Maharashtra’s Buldhana district, reports News18. Three people have been injured in the incident.
6.50 pm: Central Railway has uploaded a list of trains that have been rescheduled, cancelled or partially cancelled because of heavy rainfall in Mumbai.
6.48 pm: A number of buses run by the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport, or BEST, are stranded across the city because of waterlogging, reports The Indian Express. Almost 179 buses have broken down. Seventy four of those buses have been removed from the road.
6.40 pm: The main runway of Mumbai airport is likely to remain closed till Thursday, reports PTI. The runway was closed after SpiceJet plane overshot the runway on Monday.
5.32 pm: The National Disaster Response Force is conducting rescue operations in Pune’s Ambegaon area, where a wall collapsed on labourers earlier in the day, killing six of them. Local residents and a fire brigade team rescued nine of the 15 people trapped under the debris.
Read more:
Pune: Six labourers killed as another wall collapses due to heavy rain
5.22 pm: Mumbai’s Additional Municipal Commissioner Ashwini Joshi says waterlogging has receded. “Western Railway functioning normally,” News18 quotes him as saying. “Mumbai witnessed 4.92 metres high tide at 11.30 am. That is why we could not pump out water on the central line. Moreover, 53 flooding spots were identified last night. We did not notice any waterlogging due to metro digging work.”
5.17 pm: Maharashtra Congess President Ashok Chavan has asked the Shiv Sena, which runs the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, to apologise to the city’s residents for “submerging” the city, reports the Hindustan Times.
5.03 pm: The toll in the Malad wall collapse has risen to 21, PTI quotes an unidentified civic body official as saying.
4.46 pm: Two men stuck in their car at Malad Subway drowned late on Monday night, reports Mumbai Mirror. According to NDTV, 37-year-old Irfan Khan, and Gulshad Shaikh, 38, were returning home when they drove their SUV to the subway, failing to gauge the depth of the water. As water entered the vehicle’s engine, its automatic doors reportedly got jammed and the men could not get out.
4.33 pm: Central Railway official Sunil Udasi tells ANI that trains were operated last night despite forecast of heavy rains and high tides “so office goers could reach their homes safely”.
4.30 pm: A 15-year-old girl stuck under the debris of a wall that collapsed in Pimpripada area of Malad East is feared dead, reports the Hindustan Times. Her mother’s body has been recovered while another minor has been rescued alive.
4.21 pm: Congress leader Sanjay Nirupam alleges that people injured in the Malad wall collapse are not being treated properly by the staff at trauma care centre in the city’s Jogeshwari locality, and their relatives are being told to pay for medicines.
3.33 pm: Four teams of the National Disaster Response Force have been moved from Pune to Mumbai, reports The Indian Express. These teams will be stationed at Andheri sports complex.
3.31 pm: Congress spokesperson Randeep Singh Surjewala criticises the state government for the death of 18 people in Mumbai because of the rain.
“Drunk with arrogance of power, an incompetent and corrupt Shiv Sena-BJP alliance leaves Mumbai to lurch in this flood season, year after year for 25 years,” he tweets. “Eighteen people died in Mumbai and crumbling infrastructure is for everyone to see. Will SS-BJP own responsibility for this mess, ever?”
3.28 pm: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says the government wil provide assistance to the people killed in rain-related incidents in Pune and Kalyan. “IMD has given heavy rainfall warning for Vidarbha and Marathwada in coming days,” he adds. “I have instructed local administration to be alert and take all the necessary precautions.”
3.23 pm: A python, estimated to be five to six feet in length, is stuck in a nullah wall in Thane’s Lokmanya Nagar area, reports the Hindustan Times. A few snake rescuers, local residents, forest and fire brigade team have been trying to rescue the snake since 7 am. According to local residents, the python may have been washed away from the National Park mountain.
2.51 pm: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis advises citizens to remain alert for the next two days. He says the BMC and Mumbai Police are working continuously to provide assistance to citizens.
2.47 pm: Rescue operations are under way to pull out a woman and
The Indian Express reports. The girl is reportedly motionless and attempts are being made to revive her.
2.35 pm: Nationalist Congress Party spokesperson Nawab Malik tweets photos of his flooded house, tagging Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray, Shiv Sena and the Chief Minister’s Office.
2.26 pm: Deputy director general of IMD Mumbai says heavy to very heavy rainfall is expected in Thane and Palghar today, reports ANI. The situation in Mumbai will improve on Tuesday afternoon, he says.
2.17 pm: The Met department forecasts heavy to very heavy rainfall in Mumbai, suburbs, Vidarbha and Marathwada in the next 48 hours, reports ANI. Tourists are advised not to visit hill stations since heavy rainfall is expected in parts of Maharashtra.
2.14 pm: Three die, one injured after a water tanker collapses in Satpur area of Nashik, reports ANI. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says that the incident will be investigated and action will be taken against those responsible.
2.07 pm: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis says six people died in Pune in a wall collapse incident and four were injured, reports ANI. Fadnavis says they are from Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh. “We’ve ordered a probe in this matter,” he says in the state Assembly. “The wall was old and collapsed as a tree fell on it.”
1.51 pm: Sixteen flights are delayed and four flights are cancelled at the Delhi airport due to rains in Mumbai, reports ANI.
1.33 pm: Water enters Sakinaka police station in Mumbai, reports ANI.
1.29 pm: Two men die after a car submerges in flood water in Malad, reports The Indian Express. The car was stuck on a flooded road near a subway and its door jammed, trapping the two men inside.
1.23 pm: Personnel of the fire department and medical teams conduct rescue operations at a flooded site in Navghar Mithagar, reports ANI.
1.16 pm: Divisional railway manager of the Mumbai division tweets help desk numbers for passenger enquiry.
1.13 pm: Rescue workers continue to try and save a 10-year-old girl trapped in debris after a wall collapsed in Pimpripada in Malad East, reports PTI. “Shortly after the wall collapsed, we rescued a child from underneath the debris,” a rescue worker said. “This girl Sanchita has been crying for help since 2 am.”
1.09 pm: Powai lake overflows as the region registers 402 mm rainfall in last 24 hours, Hindustan Times reports.
1.07 pm: The Met department records 137.88 mm and 375.2 mm rainfall at Colaba and Santacruz in 24 hours ending 8.30 am on Tuesday, reports The Indian Express. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s weather apparatus at the Dindoshi fire station records 479.56 mm rain in 24 hours ending 8 am Tuesday.
12.43 pm: Mumbai airport authorities say it could take up to 48 hours to re-open the main runway at the airport, which was closed after an aircraft overshot the runway, reports NDTV. The alternative runway at the airport is functional.
12.40 pm: Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson says a 150 m long ramp is being built to push an aircraft that overshot the runway off the grass. A SpiceJet aircraft had overshot the runway on Monday around 11.45 pm. None of the passengers were injured in the accident.
12.26 pm: Western Railway spokesperson says there is no disruption on the line, reports ANI. Trains are running between Churchgate and Virar. The spokesperson says water level has come down on all four lines at Nallasopara. “Trains are running with some delay due to low visibility in section due to heavy rains,” the spokesperson says.
Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Sunil Udasi says one train was cancelled and seven short terminated on Tuesday due to very heavy rains in Mumbai area, reports ANI.
12.09 pm: Andheri subway in Mumbai closed due to flooding, reports ANI.
11.59 am: The Thane Municipal Transport arranges extra buses to ferry passengers up to Mulund check naka, reports ANI. Thane municipal commissioner ordered extra buses after local train services were stopped between Kurla and Thane.
11.57 am: Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut says the wall collapse incident in Malad was an accident, reports ANI. “It’s not BMC’s failure,” he says. “It is because of heavy rainfall. There are several illegal constructions in Mumbai and BMC has nothing to do with it.”
11.43 am: Fadnavis says high tide is expected at 12 noon. “Last night, Mumbai police received 1,600-1,700 tweets from people, they received immediate help,” says the chief minister, according to ANI. He says heavy rainfall is expected over the next two days and the government is prepared for it.
11.40 am: Fadnavis says 13 people were killed in Malad wall collapse incident and at least 40 people were injured, reports ANI. “Local trains operational on Western line but yet to resume on Central line as there’s more flooding there,” he says. He says work is under way to pump out the water.
11:33 am: Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visits people injured in the Malad wall collapse incident, reports ANI.
11.31 am: Five people die in Thane and Palghar in rain-related incidents, PTI reported. Three people died, including a toddler, after a wall collapsed at an Urdu school near Durgai Fort in Kalyan.
In another incident, a car with three occupants fell into the Chenna Creek between Thane and Bhayander. Fire brigade personnel from Balkum managed to rescue the three people from the submerged car.
11.21 am: Mumbai International Airport Limited spokesperson says the main runway at the airport is closed, but the alternative runway is functional, reports ANI. Flights are delayed or being diverted to other airports.
10.45 am: Flights from Kannur are being diverted to Bengaluru as the Bengaluru to Mumbai services are normal, according to ANI.
10.18 am: High tides of about 4.59 meters are expected in Mumbai at around 11.52 am, ANI reports.
10.14 am: Apart from diversion of 54 flights, 52 flights from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport have been cancelled, ANI reports.
10.09 am: The weather department has sounded a red alert in Mumbai on Tuesday, NDTV reports. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked citizens to stay indoors.
10.02 am: All scheduled exams in colleges affiliated to Mumbai University have been cancelled, Education Minister Vinod Tawde says according to the Hindustan Times. New exam dates will be declared soon.
9.55 am: At least 16 people have been killed and 80 injured in separate incidents of wall collapse in Mumbai so far, PTI reports. While 16 people were killed in the Malad wall collapse incident, 34 people were hospitalised. Another 51 have been injured in a wall collapse in Kurar village, and they have been taken to Kandivali-based Shatabdi Hospital.
9.44 am: The last 24 hours have seen Mumbai’s second highest rainfall in a day since 1975, The Times of India reports. The highest was in 2005.
9.40 am: One woman and a child have been located under the debris of a wall that collapsed in Malad East, Chief Fire Officer Prabhat Rahangdale tells ANI.
9.34 am: In the 24 hours until 8.30 am, there was 220.42 mm rainfall in Thane. The Thane regional disaster management cell has received 94 complaints during the period, The Times of India reports.
9.29 am: The BMC has evacuated around 1,000 people from Kranti Nagar, Kurla, with the help of the NDRF, Navy, fire brigade and local volunteers, as a precaution against any untoward incident, ANI reports. The Indian Navy has deployed several teams to help people stranded in the area.
9.22 am: Local trains are being run at a every 30 minutes between Vasai and Virar as rainwater has receded in Nalasopara, Western Railway says. Trains are running normally between Churchgate and Vasai.
9.16 am: As many as 54 flights have been diverted to nearby airports due to waterlogging, ANI reports.
9.10 am: Here are some visuals of waterlogged streets in several parts of Mumbai.
8.58 am: At least six construction workers have been killed and three injured after the compound wall of the Sinhagad College campus in Pune collapsed on their shanties on Tuesday, The Hindu reports. Rescue operations are underway.
8.45 am: “Our team of National Disaster Response Force along with sniffer dog reached the site of the incident immediately after receiving the information,” an NDRF official says, according to PTI. “Besides, a team of fire brigade and local police also reached the spot and took the control of the situation.” He says that 10 people who were injured have been shifted to hospitals in Jogeshwari and Kandivali suburbs.
8.37 am: “Pained to know about the loss of lives in Malad Wall Collapse incidence,” Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis tweets. “My thoughts are with families who lost loved ones [and] prayers for speedy recovery of injured. Rs 5 lakh will be given to the kin of deceased.”
8.30 am: At least 16 people have been killed overnight on Tuesday in rain-related incidents as heavy rain continued in Mumbai and neighbouring districts, NDTV reports. Thirteen people were killed and four critically injured after a compound wall crashed in Malad East.
8.20 am: At least three people, including a three-year-old boy, die after the wall of a school crashes on two houses in Kalyan.
8.08 am: The Maharashtra government has declared a public holiday in Mumbai on Tuesday. All schools and colleges will remain closed. “Due to heavy rain forecast in Mumbai even today by IMD, People are advised to stay indoors unless there is any emergency,” the Chief Minister’s Office tweets.
8 am: The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation says that all train movement on Central Railway, Western Railway and the Harbour Line have been stopped. However, Central Railway says early on Tuesday morning that trains would run between Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Bandra on the Harbour Line, Vashi to Panvel on Harbour line, Thane-Vashi-Panvel on Trans-Harbour line and Thane to Kalyan/Khopoli on the Central Line.
7.49 am: The Central Railway says it evacuated passengers who got stuck in trains with the help of the Railway Protection Force. “It’s nature’s fury... Moving trains in such rains in Kurla Thane section is safety hazard at this point of time... Suburban Train movement has been suspended till further advice,” the Central Railway tweeted early on Tuesday. “Inconvenience is deeply regretted.”
7.37 am: The Western Express Highway, which leads to the Mumbai airport, was flooded, making it difficult to travel to the airport. A SpiceJet plane from Jaipur also overshoots the runway while landing in Mumbai late on Monday, but nobody has been injured, NDTV reports.
7.28 am: India Meteorological Department Deputy Director (Mumbai) KS Hosalikar says in a 12.30 am bulletin that very intense spells of rain are expected to continue in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts during the next four hours. “Local forecast issued at night for Mumbai for 24 hrs is now indicating chances of intermittent heavy showers with isolated extremely heavy rainfalls in city and suburbs,” he adds in a tweet.
7.19 am: Heavy rains in Mumbai since Sunday night led to disruption of train services and waterlogging on Monday. Road traffic was also disrupted.