Residents walk through a flooded underpass at Bandra Reclamation after a heavy downpour on Thursday. Karan Saraf
As rain lashed parts of the city on Thursday, low visibility triggered heavy gridlocks. In other parts, there were other woes: the ongoing pothole repairs led to massive jams. A rail fracture on the Central Railway delayed trains during the rush hour in the morning. According to the Mumbai police traffic control room, traffic crawled in various parts of the city due to poor visibility.
Pothole repair work at Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR) slowed down vehicular movement on the stretch. Such conditions, the traffic control room said, are expected to last during the monsoon. Mumbaikars reached out to the Mumbai Traffic Control on their Twitter handle to complain about the sluggish traffic at various locations in the city.
Taking to social media, commuters pointed out heavy congestion at JVLR and LBS Marg. Other areas that witnessed traffic snarls were New Link Road,S V Road, Tulsi Pipe Road and the Western Express Highway.
Tree felling incidents were reported at 12 different locations, according to the BMC’s disaster management department. One incident was reported on K C Road in Bandra Reclamation where 40-year-old Sajida Sheikh was injured after a tree fell on her. She was later admitted to Bhabha Hospital.
As many as six local train services were cancelled and at least 25 delayed after a rail fracture was reported between Kasara and Umbermali railway stations on the Central Railway (CR) Thursday morning. Trains on the main line were delayed later in the day. According to CR officials, the fracture was reported at 8.30 am and repaired by 9.15 am. “The fracture was 17-inches long. We did repair the same in as little time as possible. Traffic was affected for some time,” a senior CR official said.
Officials added two long-distance trains on the up line towards Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT)were held up. Services on the main line and harbour line were affected during the later part of the day. “I have been planning to take a train to CSMT around 8 am since the past two days, which never happens. The trains always remain behind schedule. Corrections are required to improve punctuality,” Anita Agarwal, a commuter who takes a train from Dadar station, said.
After receiving heavy rainfall through the week, the weather department forecast said the city may receive similar rainfall for three more days. “The city will receive isolated heavy rainfall in the coming three days,” said K S Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).
He further predicted that northern Maharashtra and northern Gujarat areas will also receive heavy rainfall. “Northern Gujarat and Maharashtra will receive heavy rainfall this week,” he said.
Warning issued to fishermen of the Maharashtra coast continues and they have been advised not to venture out into the sea till Thursday noon. According to the IMD, Santacruz observatory recorded 23.9 mm rainfall while the one at Colaba recorded 9 mm rainfall on Thursday.
11 of a family injured
Eleven person were injured as a slab of a ground-plus-one house in a chawl in Dharavi collapsed on early Thursday morning. According to BMC officials, the incident occurred due to heavy rains through the week. The injured were taken to Lokmanya Tilak Municipal General Hospital at Sion.
“All eleven persons are from the same family. We had sent our officials to the spot and found that the structure was not illegal or unsafe,” said BMC Assistant Commissioner of G North ward Ramakant Biradar. He added: “There are around 7,000 such ground-plus-one structures in Dharavi. These are not illegal. The slab might have collapsed following continuous heavy rain. The injured are recuperating at Sion hospital and will be discharged soon.”
