Slum evacuated, train services halted as heavy rain causes flood in Mumbai’s low-lying areas

MUMBAI:  Heavy rains lashed across Mumbai and its suburbs on Friday displacing hundreds of slum dwellers, flooding low-lying areas and disrupting the local train services. As the Mithi river swelled to 3.7 metres in the morning, around 250 residents of Kranti Nagar, a slum-dominated area in Kurla, were evacuated to nearby municipal schools. The water level in the river, which has a danger mark of four metres, later subsided and the people returned home.

Meanwhile, a truck carrying 20 tons of tomatoes overturned on the Eastern Express Highway.. The suburban train services took a hit with stations like Sion being submerged, forcing hundreds of passengers to take shelter on the platform. The traffic was snarled up on a few flooded roads that badly affected commuting. Low lying areas like Gandhi Market, Hindmata junction, Dahisar subway, Bandra, Andheri and Santacruz reported water logging.

The Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, has predicted “light to moderate rain in the city and suburbs with the possibility of heavy rainfall at isolated places” for next 24 hours. Officials said Mumbai recorded 55.3 mm of rainfall between 4 am and 9 am while 135 mm and 140.5 mm was recorded in its eastern and western suburbs respectively. The city’s civic body had said a high tide of 4.08 metres will occur at 4:26 pm and a low tide of 1.43 mts at 10:37 pm.