The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation on Wednesday declared a holiday for all private offices and establishments, except emergency services, after heavy rain overnight led to severe waterlogging in several parts of the city, ANI reported.

Two security guards in the city’s Agripada area died after they were trapped in a flooded elevator, according to Mumbai Mirror.

The India Meteorological Department said the city received heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy downpour at isolated places in the last 24 hours. Santacruz locality recorded 286.4 mm of rainfall till 8.30 am on Wednesday, while Colaba in South Mumbai recorded 147.8 mm of rain, the weather body said. In Thane, 119.8 mm of rainfall was recorded during the same period.

Meteorological Department’s Deputy Director General of Meteorology KS Hosalikar in a tweet said heavy rainfall was expected in the next 24 hours. “Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad be careful,” he added.

Train services on the Central and Harbour lines were suspended on Wednesday morning, the civic body said. However, the Western Railway line is functioning as per schedule.

A Central Railway spokesperson told PTI that suburban services were suspended at 5 am on Wednesday following heavy rain along the tracks. Due to heavy rain and waterlogging in Sion-Kurla and Chunabhatti-Kurla areas, rail services were suspended between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Thane railway stations, he said.

The harbour railway line between CSMT and Vashi was also suspended, the spokesperson added.

Special shuttle services are being run between Thane-Kasara, Thane-Karjat and Vashi-Panvel stations, while several long distance trains have been rescheduled, according to PTI. Suburban trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, are currently being operated only for essential services employees due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Waterlogging was reported in Bhendi Bazar, Gol Temple, Nana Chowk, Mumbai Central Junction, Bawla Compound, J J Junction, Hindmata, Kala Chowki, Sarthi Bar and the Worli Sea Face.

Maharashtra minister Aaditya Thackeray and Mumbai civic body commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal inspected the area near the Bandra-Dharavi road. They directed pumping stations to work at full capacity and drain out water from low-lying areas.

The wall of a building collapsed due to heavy rain in Worli, which is Thackeray’s constituency. No casualties were reported. Thackeray said in a tweet that he had met the concerned officials and given them instructions to deal with the situation.

Heavy rain also caused traffic congestion in the city. Some vehicles broke down, severely affecting traffic movement, a civic official told news agency PTI. Traffic diversions were reported in several parts of Mumbai.

Visuals showed commuters wading through knee-deep water as they struggled to reach workplaces. Mumbai’s Nair Hospital, which is a dedicated Covid-19 facility, was also flooded, according to ANI.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, in a late-night statement on Tuesday, said that “people living in vulnerable places may take caution”, according to NDTV. The department warned about power cuts and the “possibility of danger to very old buildings and unmaintained structures”.

Maharashtra Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Vijay Wadettiwar said five teams of the National Disaster Response Force were being kept on standby, PTI reported. He urged people to stay indoors.

Bombay HC suspends hearing

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday suspended its hearings scheduled for the day, including all virtual hearings, in view of the heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs, PTI reported.

The bail pleas filed by actor Rhea Chakraborty and her brother Showik Chakraborty, both arrested in a drug case related to the death of actor Sushant Singh Rajput, were to be heard on Wednesday by a single bench of Justice Sarang Kotwal through video-conferencing. The court will now hear the matter on Thursday.

The High Court on Wednesday was also scheduled to hear actor Kangana Ranaut’s plea against the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation over the demolition of a part of her bungalow in Pali Hill area.