At least five persons were killed and two more missing in different rain-related incidents as an incessant downpour pounded Mumbai and most parts of Maharashtra for the third consecutive day on Thursday, officials said.
Mumbai was on a ‘Red’ alert and the city recorded 83.23 mm rains, its eastern suburbs 62.72 mm, and the western suburbs 95.01 mm till 6 p.m., as per the BMC Disaster Control.
The IMD Mumbai’s figures for the same period was 85.8 mm in the city and 75.8 mm in the suburbs, with the recordings in Colaba at 223.2 mm and 145.1 mm in the past 24 hours.
Several areas were clobbered with heavy rains in Mumbai – Dahisar (185 mm), Borivali (147 mm), Malad (106 mm), Malvani (105 mm). Colaba (103 mm), CSMT (101 mm), and other areas between 66 mm to 99 mm.
Many areas of the city like Churchgate, Byculla, Worli, Bandra, Chembur, Ghatkopar, Kurla, Santacruz, Andheri, Malad, Bhandup, Dahisar and other places experienced water logging.
The rains disrupted vehicular traffic with massive snarls on the highways, main roads and arterial thoroughfares, though the Central Railway and Western Railway suburban services functioned almost normally.
Following a Red alert declared late on Wednesday, the BMC and state government ordered closure of all public-private schools and colleges on Thursday to ensure safety of students.
In Thane, a motorcyclist reportedly skid on a wet stretch, lost control and was trapped and crushed to death between the wheels of a container truck on the Ghodbunder Road, while a man was drowned in a pit in Thane.
A woman was killed when a wall collapsed at her home in Kolhapur this morning during a downpour.
Two other persons were feared drowned in a swollen drain in Palghar, the details of which were awaited.
Two men were washed away in a flooded river in Nagpur’s Vena river where water levels hovered above the danger mark since morning.
Besides Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Pune, Satara, Chandrapur and Gadchiroli were also issued a Red alert, as per the IMD.
Though there were no disruptions of suburban rail services, roads and highways in Mumbai witnessed slow-moving traffic with snarls reported in different parts of the city. Following heavy water logging outside Churchgate station, the BMC deployed water pumps to clear the flood waters which coincided with the high-tide phenomenon this afternoon.
Elsewhere in the state, Thane, Ratnagiri, Raigad, Satara, Pune, Kolhapur, Palghar, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Buldhana, Yavatmal, Nagpur and other regions received heavy rains.
As a precaution, the NDRF has deployed 13 teams across the state besides the SDRF and other agencies on standby. Over half a dozen rivers in Ratnagiri, and two in Nagpur and Yavatmal were flooded above the danger levels, with people living in low-lying areas shifted to safer locations.
For Friday, the IMD has given an Orange alert in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Pune, and Satara, though the situation is likely to ease over the weekend.
Fishermen on the coastal Konkan region have been advised against venturing into the high seas till July 30 as there will be heavy rains with strong winds touching upto 55-kmph during the period.