Rain intensity reduces in Mumbai after heavy spell; local trains, bus services back to normal

MUMBAI: A day after heavy downpour wreaked havoc in Mumbai and claimed 30 lives, the rain intensity reduced on Monday, bringing some relief to citizens of the metropolis, officials said.

The local train and road transport services, which were badly affected due to the torrential rains and water-logging on Sunday, were now running normal, they said.

On Sunday, 19 people died in Mahul area of Chembur where a retaining wall collapsed on some houses after a landslide, 10 died as some shanties collapsed in suburban Vikhroli, while one person died in Bhandup area where a forest department wall collapsed.

On Monday, no fresh death was reported, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

The eastern suburbs of Mumbai recorded the highest 90.65 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Monday, as compared to 48.88 mm rainfall in the island city and 51.89 mm rainfall in western suburbs, he said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) earlier issued an "orange alert" for Mumbai on Monday, predicting "heavy to very heavy rain at few places".

According to BMC officials, there is a forecast of moderate to heavy rain/thundershowers in the city and suburbs with the possibility of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places.

Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from green to red.

A 'green' alert stands for 'no warning': no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain.

A 'red' alert stands for "warning", and asks authorities to "take action".

An 'orange' alert indicates that the authorities are expected to "be prepared".

The suburban train services, which were suspended for a few hours on Sunday due to water-logging on tracks in some areas, were now running normal, spokespersons of the Central Railway and Western Railway said.

Bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were also back to normal, civic officials said.

On Sunday evening, Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray took stock of the preparedness by various government agencies to tackle any emergency.

Thackeray had directed the agencies to remain more alert and asked authorities to keep a watch on landslide-prone areas and dilapidated buildings.