Mumbai, July 18
At least 30 persons died and five others were injured in rain-related incidents as incessant heavy downpour overnight during a major thunderstorm pummelled Mumbai, causing severe waterlogging and traffic disruptions in the financial capital on Sunday, officials said.
The Western Railway and Central Railway briefly suspended suburban train services in Mumbai after heavy rains and many long-distance trains were terminated or regulated at various stations, officials said.
In the Mahul area in suburban Chembur, 19 persons died when a compound wall came crashing down on some houses located on a hillock following a landslide, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) PRO said on Sunday night. The retaining wall of the Bharatnagar locality collapsed at 1 am. Five persons were injured and taken to nearby Rajawadi hospital.
In another incident, 10 hutment dwellers died as six shanties collapsed after a landslide in suburban Vikhroli at 2.30 am. In suburban Bhandup, a 16-year-old boy died after a forest department compound wall collapsed, an official said.
Mumbai recorded over 250 mm of rain in just three hours (between midnight and 3am), touching 305 mm by 7 am on Sunday, a meteorologist said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) said Mumbai was placed under a red alert, “indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated locations” for the rest of the day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s office announced Rs two lakh each for the next of kin of the deceased from the PM’s National Relief Fund. A sum of Rs 50,000 would be given to the injured. — PTI
250 mm rain in 3 hours
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