Rains snap Central line

The water level at Wadala, said CR officials, had reached up to 13 inches above the tracks. Places like Sion and Matunga recorded eight inches, totally disrupting rail traffic. Harbour line services were suspended between Kurla and Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus CST by 10 am, while those between Byculla and Kurla on the main line stopped by 10.30 am.

Though fast track services on the main line managed to remain above water, they were hampered after slow trains got diverted on the tracks. Bunching of trains near major stations like Thane and Kalyan only added to the misery of crowds waiting at the stations in the pouring rain. 8220;I took just five hours to reach CST from Dombivli,8221; said commuter Radhika Nair matter-of-factly.

Despite a relatively dry afternoon after the wet morning, the rains threw the administration out of gear. J B Thomas, a Roha resident, who was waiting at the Kalyan station for the Kanyakumari Express since 3.45 pm, was still waiting till late evening for the train to arrive. Its scheduled time is 4.45 pm. 8220;Due to lack of announcements, we have had to suffer,8221; he said.

Harbour and main line services were put back on track by 3 pm along with those on the main line. 8220;The train are being run unscheduled, since there is a lot of confusion with a large number of rakes being held at car sheds,8221; said a CR spokesperson. Two long distance trains 8211; the Kurla-Darbhanga Express and Dadar-Ratnagiri Express 8211; were rescheduled after the trains rolled in late into the city.

The Western Railway fared much better, having to deal with water logging only between Dadar and Matunga. Services ran late by an average of 15-20 minutes till late evening.

The roads bore the brunt of both the rains and the burden of additional commuters. Traffic on Dadar TT was diverted to Naigaon cross road, while that on the Khar and Milan subways were routed along the S V Road and Western Express highway. The subways closed down in the morning and were later reopened in the afternoon.

The holiday mood was carried into the second day after Ganesh Chaturthi on Wednesday, with many seasoned Mumbaiites preferring to stay at home rather than risk travelling. That today was an optional holiday too meant that offices like Mantralaya reported only 20 per cent attendance. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation similarly reported thin attendance. However, slack attendance in the courts meant that a large number of ongoing cases had to be adjourned.

The weather office, however, termed the rainfall as nothing abnormal, and certainly not the final shower. 8220;The last date of withdrawal of monsoon in the city is September 30. Today8217;s rainfall has actually decreased. Rainfall in town is less than in the suburbs,8221; said an official from the bureau. Intermittent rains are expected in the city and suburbs till Saturday morning.

Water-logging:

Babulnath Mandir, Dockyard Station, Mazagaon, Santacruz Service Road, Parel TT, Hindmata Cinema, Dadar TT, Zakaria Bunder, King Circle, Wadala Junction, Worli Naka, Matunga Railway station, Kalpana Talkies, Mahim Junction, Kalyani Talkies and Kamani in Kurla, Gopal Nagar Kurla and Milan subway in Khar. The civic control room recorded complaints of two house collapses: one at Siddharth Nagar in Khar, the other at Kazi Street, Null Bazaar, where the western portion of the building that was being repaired fell, injuring two persons.