Rains pelt Thane district

MUMBAI, SEPT 15: Heavy rains lashed havoc in both rural and urban parts of Thane district on Monday, disrupting the normal flow of life. ...

MUMBAI, SEPT 15: Heavy rains lashed havoc in both rural and urban parts of Thane district on Monday, disrupting the normal flow of life. Heavy showers pelted the central suburbs of Thane, Dombivli and Kalyan since 5.30 am.

The rains, which reduced to a drizzle only 12 hours later, also coincided with high tide, leading to water from the creek flooding into the townships through the drains and causing water logging in many areas. Palghar taluka topped the district with a record 40 mm rain fall, Kalyan recorded 33 mm, Thane 6.5 mm, Ulhasnagar 11.2 mm, Bhiwanidi 5.5 mm, Shahapur 6 mm, Vasai 10 mm, Jawhar 16.4 mm, Mokhada 19.9 mm, Wada 25 mm, Dahanu 8.2 mm and Talasari recorded 33.1 mm rainfall.

In Thane city, the rains started as a trickle, but caught on after 11.45 am, flooding Kopri, Ram Maruti Road, Vandana Cinema, Pachpakhadi, Shrirang Society, the Thane Municipal Corporation8217;s administrative building and Chandanwadi. At Saraswati School, the children even had to be shifted to the first floor. Therailway tracks around Thane were also flooded.

In Kalwa, there was more than 5 feet water around Sahyadri Society. The ground floor of Vidya Prasarak Mandal school was submerged, and like in Thane, the students had to be kept on the first floor till the water receded late in the evening. The Sainath Nagar slum colony, which houses squatters evicted during the road widening project was the worst hit, as creek waters flooded into the colony. Irate women resorted to rasta rokos along the road, but were later persuaded to give up their agitation by local Assistant Commissioner of Police Ramchandra Patil.

The Ram Maruti road had to be closed for traffic as a precautionary measure. The Gajanan Maharaj temple in the neighbourhood as well as ground floors of the housing societies in the vicinity were also flooded.

In east Dombivli, knee-deep water flooded areas around the station, causing considerable damage to shops located in the area. In the west parts of Dombivli too, hundreds of chawls in Garibacha Padawere flooded. As a precautionary measure, the MSEB switched off power supply in certain places.

In Kalyan, low lying areas like Chikale Baug, Ram Baug, Chikanghar, Beturkar Pada, Joshi Baug and Shivaji Chowk were also flooded. The entire market area got flooded with knee-deep water. The rains also cut off access to villages along the road to Haji Malang shrine, as the bridge across a nullah at Kakkadwad-Kharad was overflowing with more than four feet water.