August 30, 2017: Four persons were washed away in separate incidents in Mumbai following torrential rain since yesterday. A senior police official said, the incidents were reported from Dahisar, Kandivli, Malad and Dadar areas. In another incident, one person was killed after the wall of a power sub-station fell on his house in Asalpha village in suburban Ghatkopar.
Torrential rain pounded the metropolis throughout the day yesterday. The city gauged a whopping 298 mm of rainfall, the highest in a day in August since 1997. Meanwhile, Suburban train services on the Central Railway mainline resumed this morning after remaining suspended for nearly 20 hours due to heavy downpour.
Sunil Udasi, chief PRO of the Central Railway said, services on other sections like Kalyan to Karjat, Kalyan to Titwala and Thana to Kalyan were also operational. Udasi said, since there is still water-logging at Kurla, it may take some more time for the Harbour line trains to get back on track. A senior Western Railway official said, services on the suburban corridor of the Western Railway are also back on track.
Trains on this section resumed around midnight last night and more services were started around 7 am. The official said that let up in rain last night brought some relief. The suburban train network, which carries over 65 lakh passengers a day, is the lifeline of the financial capital and yesterday’s rain-enforced disruptions caused severe inconvenience to commuters.
The incessant downpour threw life out of gear and paralyzed road, rail and air traffic. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has declared a public holiday today for state government staff barring essential services. He advised citizens to stay indoors adding that the essential services and critical staff in the Government will be on duty today.
School and colleges in Mumbai will remain closed today. Navy helicopters were on standby to meet any eventuality in view of heavy rains while the NDRF too has been put on alert. A Navy spokesperson said, flood rescue teams and divers are also ready for deployment.
Dabbawalas in Mumbai today cancelled their delivery of over two lakh tiffins to office goers in view of the disruption of suburban rail services due to incessant rain. Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association told PTI that Dabbawalas, who had ventured out on their task yesterday, returned home this morning after being stranded at railway stations. He said, dabbawalas will resume their services tomorrow. (AIR News)
