Heavy rains lash Mumbai; public transport services experience delays

Incessant rains with intermittent spells of moderate to heavy showers since Friday morning have slowed down public transport services and traffic in Mumbai.

Several parts of the country’s financial capital received more than 15 mm of rainfall between 7 am and 8 am. Due to heavy rains, low-lying areas like Sion saw waterlogging prompting the authorities to divert road traffic.

In the Western suburbs, the Andheri subway between Andheri and Jogeshwari railway stations was also waterlogged.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai issued a “Nowcast” warning at 8 am, predicting heavy “intense spells of rain very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during next 3-4 hours”.

The weatherman has predicted “moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs’ with the possibility of “very heavy rainfall at isolated places” hours for the Maharashtra capital.

A civic official said there will be a high tide of 3.87 metres in the Arabian Sea at 4.09 pm. Being a saucer-shaped city, high tides coupled with heavy rains can trigger flooding as water doesn’t get discharged into the sea at that time.

In the 24 hours that ended at 8 am on Friday, Mumbai’s island city recorded an average 93.16 mm of rainfall. The figure was 66.03 mm and 78.93 mm for eastern Mumbai and western Mumbai, respectively, a civic official said.

A spokesperson from Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) said that the public bus service body has diverted three bus routes due to waterlogging at Sion since 7.50 am.

Western Railway and Central Railway, which operate local trains in Mumbai, claimed on X that their suburban services were “running”. However, commuters complained of some delays, though there was no waterlogging on the tracks.