Heavy downpour halts Bombay

Rains, the kind that Bombayites see very rarely, lashed the metropolis on Friday, killing two persons including a two-year-old, injuring 12 others and damaging property worth over Rs 4 million.

While the child died when a house collapsed on Mint road in Fort area in south Bombay, one person was killed when a wall crashed at Mankhurd in north-east city.

The last 12 hours recorded a rainfall of 28.06 cms in Santacruz -- the highest in five years -- and 16.19 cms in Colaba. In Jalgaon district, an overflowing river Tapi washed away at least 100 hutments. River Ratnawati, too, swelled onto its banks. Thirtysix of Hatnur dam's 41 gates had to be opened to reduce water pressure.

The incessant downpour disrupted the Central and Western Railway services. A derailment on the Central line, waterlogging on all roads and several incidents of landslides and building collapses have been reported.

In Saki-Naka area in north-east Bombay, four persons including two children were injured in a landslide on Thursday night. This was followed by a building collapse in the wee hours of Friday at Samuel street. No casualties were reported.

All low-lying areas, especially those near creeks, have been flooded.

The situation, according to the Regional Meteorological Department which issued a heavy rainfall warning for the next 24 hours, is not expected to improve till Saturday.

RMD Director Dr B Shyamla said the heavy rainfall has been caused by a deep depression, about 80 km northwest of Raipur. She said a warning has been issued to fishermen about winds scaling 45 to 55 km per hour in Maharashtra's coastal areas.

Earlier, on Friday morning, four bogies of a goods train derailed at at Vitthalwadi near Kalyan, blocking the incoming and outgoing trains. Though the service was partially restored by 1300 hours, it had to be discontinued again late in the afternoon as waterlogged Matunga, Sion, Vikhroli, Kurla and Sandhurst made safe passage impossible.

The Harbour line services of the Central Railway were completely paralysed due to waterlogging at Chunabhatti, Mankhurd, Kurla, Chembur and other places.

Currently, the CR is running services only between Thane and Kalyan.

On the Western line, heavy waterlogging was reported at Grant Road, Bombay Central, Matunga and Mahim. The WR is operating services only beyond Bandra, a spokesperson said.

All suburban trains from Churchgate and Chattrapati Shivaji terminus have been suspended. Stranded passengers were completely at the mercy of cabbies and autorickshawwallahs.

Several areas including Santacruz, Lalbaug, Kala, Chowki and Mazgaon were plunged into darkness following a disruption in power supply.

All banks remained closed owing to the Parsi new year, and offices recorded thin attendance.

At the Santacruz airport, chaos reigned supreme. A number of Indian Airlines flights to Bombay were diverted.

About 124 passengers of an Indian Airlines flight from Trivandrum had a narrow escape when the aircraft's nosewheel collapsed. The runway was closed, soon after.

"After 1500 hours, no flight has taken off," an IA spokesman said. "Incoming flights that have been diverted include the Mangalore-Bombay, Varanasi-Lucknow-Bombay and Karachi-Bombay, all to Ahmedabad. The Goa-Bombay and Bangalore-Bombay flights were diverted to Hyderabad, while the Bhuj--Bombay flight landed in Baroda.''

Consequently, IA officials warn that all flights for the weekend will be affected.