Monsoon: Three injured, flights & train services hit, roads waterlogged as city receives 55-mm rain

Pre-monsoon showers hit the city for the second time in three days around 7 pm, with the suburbs receiving 46.4 mm rainfall, while the island city recorded 9 mm of rain (Express Photo by Karma Sonam Bhutia)

Three persons were injured in tree-fall incidents while waterlogging was observed in several areas as the city received 55-mm rainfall on Monday evening. The city airport and local train network also experienced delays in services much after the showers had stopped.

Pre-monsoon showers hit the city for the second time in three days around 7 pm, with the suburbs receiving 46.4 mm rainfall, while the island city recorded 9 mm, said the India Meteorological Department. During a three-hour period, the BMC’s weather sub-stations in Kandivali recorded more than

40 mm rainfall, while its Marol station recorded 42 mm. Thunder and lightning were observed throughout the city, while in south Mumbai commuters passing through Churchgate reported dust storms blowing rocks and sand onto the road from Oval Maidan.

According to the BMC, a 45-year-old man suffered a spinal fracture after being injured in a tree-fall incident. He had multiple fractures in the thigh and hand and doctors say Laxminarayan Bashirabad is likely to suffer from paraplegia due to a serious spinal injury.

Two others, Vikas Baile (45) and Haresh Prabhu (42), were injured after trees fell on them at Dadar’s Bhavani Shankar Road at 8.43 am. “One of them was discharged while the other is admitted to hospital. He is stable,” a senior doctor said.

“The patient with spinal injuries is serious. He also has a femur fracture. We will have to observe whether spinal fracture would lead to paralysis. The preliminary condition shows he may suffer from paraplegia,” a senior doctor in KEM hospital said.

Across Mumbai, eight incidents of tree collapse were recorded, four in eastern suburbs, two in western suburbs and two in central suburbs. The rain also affected arrival and departure at the Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport, with 18 flights diverted and an average delay of 45 minutes, said officials at Mumbai International Airport Limited. Operations at the airport were affected for at least two hours, the officials added.

On the Western Railway suburban line, train services were affected for half an hour after a cover of platform sheet and a fencing fell on overhead wires at Marine Lines railway station. In addition, railways officials said two hoardings fell at Marine Lines and Bandra stations.

WR officials said that the incidents did not result in major traffic disruption as tracks were cleared at the earliest. Services on both the Western and Central lines were delayed by 15-20 minutes, said railways officials.

The BMC said complaints of waterlogging were received from a road in Dharavi, SVP Road in Girgaum, Dadar TT, Nagpada, King’s Circle, Santacruz, and Marol. The traffic police added that diversions had been created in Sion and at Malad subway, which experienced long jams. The civic body claimed that with pumps activated at nearly a dozen spots prone to flooding, traffic was not affected at Hindmata in Parel, Gandhi Market in Sion, Milan Subway in Santacruz and Andheri Subway.

Navi Mumbai recorded 26 incidents of tree fall, one instance of lightning striking a tree in Khoparkhairane and waterlogging in Vashi. There were no casualties, said a Disaster Management Cell official.