Heavy showers in Mumbai; 11 killed in lanslides

New Delhi, July 4 (UNI) Normal life was thrown out of gear as road, rail and air traffic were affected in Mumbai as torrential rains continued to lash the city and its suburbs for the fourth day today, while six people were killed in Karnataka and five in Himachal Pradesh in lanslides.

Indian Meteorogical Department (IMD) sources said heavy rainfall was recorded this morning in Mumbai. In Colaba, it was 101.3 MM while Santacruz recorded 103.6 MM between 0830 to 1130 hrs. During the last 24 hours ending at 0830 hrs, Colaba recorded 121.9 MM, while Santacruz registered 152.0 MM rainfall.

The weather department had issued a forecast of heavy to very high rainfall in the next 48 hours.

The suburban railway, the lifeline of the Mumbaikars, was badly affected as the services on the Central and Harbour lines were suspended because the rail tracks were submerged under rainwater at many places. However, Western Railway was operating all its services since morning though much behind schedules.

Due to waterlogging at Wadala Road, Masjid Bunder, Kurla and other low lying areas in the suburban railway station, train services of Main line and Harbour lines were stopped at around 0930 hrs, however, some trains, which were stranded between two stations, were started on slow speed, railway control room sources said.

Many commuters were stranded in the trains as local trains were halted in between stations for hours due to flooding of tracks.

BEST (Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply Transport) buses were operating with diverted routes as many areas were flooded.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation's (BMC) Disaster Management Centre said waterlogging occurred at several low lying areas.

Traffic has been disrupted since last night and three lanes closed on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway following a landslide near Amritranjan Bridge near Khandala, Lonavala.

Heavy rains affected the air services too as some of the flights operated with delay of half an hour and some were cancelled, official sources said.

Flight operation at both the domestic and Sahar International Airport at Santacruz in western suburbs have been affected and nearly fifty per cent of regular flights have not landed due to poor visibility.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has announced a holiday for the schools and Junior colleges today as a precautionary measure.

In many areas, the residents had to remain indoors without electricity. A number of calls about several uprooted trees were received by the Fire brigade sources during the morning rains.

Mumbai Police Commissioner A N Roy appealed to the public not to venture out of their home except in the case of any urgency.

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