Mumbai:

Heavy rain overnight pounded large parts of Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), affecting suburban and long-distance trains, roads, and highways. This deluge stranded lakhs of commuters on their way to work on the first working day of the week and led to the closure of schools for the morning session.

In just six hours, several areas in the city recorded a staggering 200 mm to 300 mm of rainfall from 1 am to 7 am, according to the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC). The downpour persisted, with a forecast predicting heavy rain for the next two days.

#WATCH | Waterlogging triggered by heavy rain in King’s Circle area of Mumbai pic.twitter.com/v4ByKwhb3h

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

The city’s residents woke up to waterlogged roads, railway tracks, flooded low-lying areas, water in homes, shops, or offices, blocked subways, and many places rendered inaccessible for commuting.

#WATCH | Pedestrians and vehicles cross heavily waterlogged streets at King’s Circle amid rains in Mumbai

A commuter says, “My car is stuck on the road. There is no point in blaming the government for the rains. The government is doing its job.” pic.twitter.com/2v16Osb8NZ

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

The weather office has predicted light to moderate spell of rainfall over Mumbai today. NDRF teams have been deployed in Thane, Vasai ( Palghar), Mahad (Raigad), Chiplun (Ratnagiri), Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara Ghatkopar, Kurla and Sindhudurg.

NDRF said it has also deployed three regular teams at Andheri and one team at Nagpur to “avert any untoward incident and give an appropriate response in case of any flood-like situation.”

Commuters also encountered delays or cancellations of suburban local trains – Mumbai’s lifeline, which transports over 8.50 million people daily. Huge crowds gathered at almost all railway stations along the Central Railway and Western Railway networks spanning Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, and Raigad (MMR).

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Heavy rain in Mumbai causes waterlogging.

(Visuals from Dadar area) pic.twitter.com/Drx0FY6wEV

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

Additionally, crucial trains that ferry thousands of commuters on the Mumbai-Gujarat, Mumbai-Pune, and Mumbai-Kolhapur routes faced cancellations, massive delays, or became stranded at stations en route.

Within Mumbai, several subways, including those in Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Kandivali, and Dahisar, were inundated with 3-5 feet of water, halting east-west traffic. Railway tracks were flooded near Kalyan, Dombivali, Ulhasnagar, Thane, Bhandup, Kurla, Sion, and Wadala, further impacting suburban train services.

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Severe waterlogging in different parts of Mumbai, following incessant heavy rainfall. pic.twitter.com/O6VUuYOknr

— ANI (@ANI) July 8, 2024

Several housing complexes in Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad, Jogeshwari, Andheri, Santacruz, Sion, Wadala, Kurla, Ghatkopar, and Bhandup experienced severe waterlogging. Scores of vehicles, both big and small, were either stuck or partially to fully submerged in different areas of the city. There were numerous incidents of tree falls and other minor accidents, though no casualties have been reported so far.

Mumbai:

The Central Railway will operate a 63-hour mega block from May 30 at midnight for platform extension works for the Mumbai network, a development that will affect the services of local trains and the work schedule of lakhs of commuters dependent on them.

As services of local as well as long-distance trains are expected to remain badly hit during the block period, the railways have appealed to commuters to avoid travelling in local trains, if not necessary.

The mega block will be operated for platform extension and widening works at CSMT and Thane stations.

“A 63-hour mega block for the widening of platform nos 5 and 6 (in Thane) will start from Thursday midnight while a 36-hour block for the works related to the extension of platform nos 10 and 11 (at CSMT) will kick in from Friday midnight,” Rajneesh Goyal, divisional railway manager of Central Railway’s Mumbai division, told a press conference on Wednesday.

Swapnil Nila, chief public relations officer of Central Railways, said a total of 72 mail-express trains and 956 suburban trains on the main and Harbour corridors will remain cancelled from Friday to Sunday.

Several mail-express and suburban trains will be short-terminated and short-originated from Wadala, Dadar, Thane, Pune, Panvel and Nashik stations.

“There will be unavoidable cancellation of suburban trains. Hence, we request all the establishments to give your staff the opportunity to work from home or any other means possible to reduce the number of passengers on these days,” Nila said.

He said the Railways has requested the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) to operate extra buses for the convenience of the passengers.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)