Mumbai: Mumbai and adjoining districts, which have been relentlessly buffeted by rainfall since Friday, awoke to waterlogged streets and intense showers yet again on Sunday.
While disaster management teams successfully rescued several stranded people across the state, two people were feared drowned. Twenty-three-year-old Raja Mehboob Shaikh fell into the Rajiv Gandhi Nullah, a major stormwater drain that connects to the Mithi river in Dharavi, in the afternoon while a 16-year-old boy was washed away in floodwater in Vikaramgadh taluka in Palghar district on Sunday morning.
Also, a woman, Mala Nagam (52), and her son, Sanket (26), also succum-bed to an electric shock in Santa Cruz (east). The duo resided at the slums in Patel Nagar near Rajeshambhaji School.
According to the Ashwini Joshi, additional commissioner, BMC, the incident happened when the duo was trying to enter their house. They were later rushed to civic-run VN Desai Hospital where they were declared brought dead.
The Maharashtra government, meanwhile, declared Monday a holiday and all schools and colleges will be closed in light of the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) warnings of heavy rainfall for the next 48 hours and the prevailing situation in the city as well as Thane, Palghar, and Raigad. Also, employees of government and semi-government have been allowed to report late for duty.
Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted that he had spoken with the chief secretary and asked that a holiday be declared on Monday in schools and colleges in Mumbai and Mumbai Metropolitan Region. A holiday had already been declared for Nashik earlier in the day due to flooding.
Commuters, meanwhile, had a miserable time as Central Railway (CR) had suspended services from the mainline and Harbour line from early in the morning till 5.40 pm and 7.30 pm respectively. A commuter, Shruti Mishra, who was waiting for a train to town at Mira Road station, said “I was waiting for a Churchgate-bound train at the station since 4.10 pm. No trains were available and lack of announcements led to confusion among commuters. I was finally able to board the train at 4.45 pm.”
Air traffic in the city airport was adversely IndiGo and Vistara Airlines issued a travel advisory asking travellers to check for flight delays and cancellations amid the intense downpour. Also, a major portion of a bridge connecting Wada and Malwada on Pinjal River in Palghar was washed away on Sunday afternoon due to heavy rains. The bridge being a vital connector, the traffic in Palghar came to a standstill.
The civic body evacuated some 400 people along Mithi River in Kurla and settled them in nearby schools while local swimmers rescued at least six newborn babies from Bandhivali and Jite villages in Karjat taluka.
The Thane district administration also asked residents of villages located on the banks of Barvi and Ulhas Rivers to shift to safer areas as flooding had occurred due to the release of water from the Barvi dam.
In Pune, 625 families from various regions were also shifted to drier ground while 50 patients and 120 staffers of Surya Hospital in Vakad were rescued by the Fire Brigade disaster management team, police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and relocated.
At around 10 am, 28,000 cusecs of water were released into Mulshi and Pawna rivers while 35,000 cusecs were released from Khadalwasla dam into the river an hour later. Areas including Adarsh Nagar, Ayodhya Nagri were also badly affected due to waterlogging.
