Mumbai caught unawares by sudden showers

Mumbaikars were on Tuesday morning caught unawares by the heavy rainfall as the weather bureau had issued a green alert for the city which means all is well Officegoers crossing the subways in Malad and Andheri were stuck in traffic jams for hours with rain flooding both the underpasses There were traffic jams caused mostly by poor roads despite Tuesday being a bank holiday Commuters wonder what lies ahead for them on Wednesday when people return from their long weekend tripsldquoImagine the chaos on a bank holiday with so much traffic What will happen tomorrow a working day There were no warnings of any kind either from the IMD or the civic bodyrdquo a commuter said The India Meteorological Department upgraded the alert from green to yellow by afternoon as heavy rain continued to lash Mumbai and its adjoining areasAlso read Recall 26 July 2005 17 years since Mumbai witnessed dreadful monsoonVehicles pass through Malad subway as water clears on Tuesday PicAnurag AhireMany areas in Mumbai Thane and Navi Mumbai recorded over 70 mm of rainfall between 11 am and 2 pm on Tuesday the IMD confirmed The intense spell led to inundated roads in many areas across the citySubways flooded againThe Andheri subway was closed for over two hours due to waterlogging in the morning Sources said it was closed at 10 am and the traffic was diverted to S V Road via Gokhale bridge junction While the traffic police said the subway had 05 feet water locals tweeted that the waterlogging was 15feet deep The subway was opened for traffic around noon after the water was cleared The Andheri subway was shut three other times this monsoon due to waterloggingon July 12 13 and August 9 The subway in Malad had to be closed briefly tooKaran Jothwani who commutes from Oshiwara to Marol for work said he spent nearly two hours to reach the office ldquoUsually it takes me about 3045 minutes to reach my office in Marol But today I spent double that time on travelrdquo he said Another commuter Kiran Loke said the heavy rain spoiled most of the roads which are now full of potholes ldquoIt is because of the potholes and diversions that there were traffic jams Why canrsquot the authorities fix the roads once and for allrdquo he saidHindmata stays afloatCentral Mumbairsquos lowlying area like Hindmata had no water accumulation owing to the pumps installed by the BMCTrains and busesThere was no major impact on the services on Central Railway and Western Railway ldquoPuneMumbai Deccan Queen developed a loco trouble at Thane station around 1024 am It was taken to Vidyavihar loop via the 6th line and it departed towards CSMT at 1233 pmrdquo a CR spokesperson said BEST services too were operational with some diversionsLake levelAfter heavy rain over the catchment areas stock in all seven lakes that supply water to Mumbai and its suburbs increased to 955 per cent of its total capacity The usable content of water in the lakes has reached 1381050 MLD as against its total capacity of 1447363 MLDForecast for next 48 hrsK S Hosalikar scientist and head of IMD Pune said ldquoFollowing a few rounds of heavy rainfall few places in western suburbs Thane Kalyan already received rainfall between 70 mm and 100 mm Mumbai and adjoining areas experienced moderate to intense spells of rain intermittently This is likely to continue This is the effect of the weather system over west Madhya Pradesh strengthening the westerlies at lower levels over the North Konkan siderdquoOver the next 48 hours Mumbai and its suburbs would have a cloudy sky said the IMD adding that there is a possibility of moderate rain with heavy rainfall at isolated places As per the IMD the Santacruz observatory recorded 19551 mm of rain from June 1 to August 16 and Colaba 15342 mmAccording to private weather forecasting agency Skymet light to moderate rain with one or two heavy spells are possible over Konkan Goa and Madhya Maharashtra Scattered light to moderate rain may occur over the remaining parts of Rajasthan west Madhya Pradesh Konkan and GoalsquoFix the roadsrsquoKiran Loke commuter caught in flooded subwaylsquoIt is because of the potholes and diversions that there were traffic jams Why canrsquot the authorities fix the roads once and for allrsquoKaran Jothwani Oshiwara resident who works at MarollsquoUsually it takes me about 3045 minutes to reach my office in Marol But today I spent double that time on travelrsquo