Heavy and continuous showers lashed large parts of Mumbai starting Friday night and lasting through Sunday with the Santacruz weather station recording the highest 24-hour rainfall since the onset of monsoon this year at 220.4 mm (from 8.30 am on Saturday till the same time on Sunday). Starting Sunday morning up to late afternoon,Colaba weather station recorded a whopping 135.6 mm rainfall in just nine hours between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm,while Santacruz recorded 75.2 mm during the same period. IMD officials said heavy showers are expected to last for another 48 hours. Continuous rain would occur in parts of the city and suburbs. Heavy to very heavy rain,accompanied by strong gusty wind,would occur in some areas, officials said. Director of weather forecast at the IMDs Regional Mumbai Center V K Rajeev said,The general strengthening of the westerlies in the mid tropospheric levels has resulted in widespread rainfall over the entire state. The monsoon trough,which was oscillating earlier,is now south of its normal position and this has resulted in good rain. This spell is going to continue for another day at least. An official from BMCs disaster management cell said not many complaints about disruption of routine life were received. Being a weekend,there were not many complaints from railway commuters. BEST buses had to be diverted from original route at Hindmata in Dadar,Andheri subway and Milan Subway and Sion Road no.24, he said. WATERLOGGING Of the 182 draining pumps installed by the BMC,24 had to be made operational in the city,40 in eastern suburbs and 24 in western suburbs as the water level rose beyond six inches from the ground. Complaints of severe waterlogging were received 12 locations in the island city,10 in eastern suburbs and 19 in western suburbs. LANDSLIDES Four incidents of landslide were reported,but without any casualties. Two huge rocks fell on shanties on hillocks at Farm Road in Sakinaka on Saturday,while a rock fell on the compound wall of a municipal school in Walkeshwar on Sunday. A minor landslide on a shanty in Suryanagar slums in Vikhroli west on Sunday caused minor head injuries to Dhanaji Gujjar. Another minor landslide happened on the wall of a MHADA building in Vikhroli Parksite. Uprooting of trees was also reported from 39 spots on Sunday. FLIGHTS As visibility dropped below 450 metres,flight operations at CSIA were suspended twice between 10 and 11 am. This resulted in two go-arounds of flights,which landed safely later. All operations were normal later in the day, said a MIAL spokesperson. Trains Local services on WRs suburban section were normal on Sunday,but on the CR route,trains were disrupted for four hours due to waterlogging at Umbermali. CRs chief PRO V Malgaonkar said,Services were affected from 10 am to 2 pm,but resumed gradually.
