Mumbai records highest September rains in 10 years

Mumbai: It was a wet Wednesday for Mumbaikars as the city witnessed its highest rainfall in September in the last 10 years, as incessant rains continued to lash the city for the second consecutive day. Air services were hit the most as flight operations were heavily disrupted. The runway at the Mumbai international airport remained shut due the heavy rains, flooding and poor visibility, while flights took off from the secondary runway. The railway and road traffic was also affected to a large extent.

According to India Meteorological Department (IMD), its Santacruz observatory recorded 303mm of rainfall for a period of 24 hours from 8.30 am-8.30 am on September 19-20. It is the highest recorded rainfall in a single day in the month of September in the last 10 years. It is also roughly equivalent to the average September rainfall (312.3mm) for the entire month. The Colaba observatory recorded 210mm in the same time period.

“The BMC deployed 35,000 workers to ensure that roads and drain entrances were cleaned,” said Sudhir Naik, deputy municipal commissioner, BMC.

The IMD has forecast that intermittent rain or showers are likely to occur in the city and suburbs on Thursday with heavy to very heavy rains at one or two places.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) automatic weather stations, the city recorded 204 mm of rainfall during the 10-hour period from 8 am to 6 pm.

Despite the rains, normal public life was largely unaffected on Wednesday as the majority of people preferred to stay indoors, probably mindful of the hardships they faced during the August 29 downpour. No deaths or mishaps were reported during the day.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai metropolitan region were already ordered closed in view of heavy rains. In addition to this, private offices and institutions too remained closed. Attendance in government offices was also very low. Due to this, local trains and buses remained largely empty, giving a deserted look to the city.

Air services were hit badly, with 161 domestic and international flights cancelled till Wednesday 8 pm due to heavy rain. The main runway at the international airport was closed, while a domestic Spice Jet flight that landed in the international airport on Tuesday night skidded, overshot the runway and got stuck in mud.

Railway services were also affected, with trains running late throughout the day. Vehicular traffic moved at a slower pace on major roads in the city, including on the Eastern and Western Express Highway.

Heavy rains created waterlogging problems at several places like Hindmata, Sion, Veera Desai Road, Air India Colony, Milan Subway, Andheri Subway, Bandra, Dahisar, Bhandup, Vidyavihar, Shell Colony, Chembur and Mankhurd. Dewatering machines were pressed into services in these areas to discharge the water.

Incidents of tree and branches falling were reported in 95 places, a majority of them in western suburbs (75). Besides, there were nine short-circuits and two cases of wall collapse across the city.