Operations on main and harbour lines remained suspended for hours as Mithi River overflowed, leaving commuters stranded; Western Railway services remained operational
A suburban local train passes a flooded track near Matunga West railway station. PIC/ASHISH RAJE
Mumbai’s lifeline, the local train services, were suspended on Central Railway’s main and harbour lines due to waterlogging, the Mithi River crossing the danger mark, and high tide. Commuters had to walk along the tracks to reach stations and find alternative transport.
Though Western Railway services remained operational, confusion arose after an official social media post incorrectly announced a suspension of services between Virar and Vasai. The post was later deleted, and the suspension was denied. Metro and Monorail services were the only ones that continued without any disruptions, even on Tuesday.
“Western Railway services were not suspended at any point in time. The erroneous social media post, which led to confusion, has been deleted. There was a point failure at the station that caused detention of trains for some time, but services remained operational,” a WR spokesperson said.
“There was waterlogging on CR only due to the Mithi River overflowing. The affected sections in the afternoon included Sion-Kurla, where water was 11 inches above rail level (the normal permissible level is 6 inches for EMUs and 4 inches for mail/express trains) on the main line, and Kurla-Chunabhatti, where it was 19 inches above rail level on the harbour line,” a CR spokesperson said.
As of 5.30 pm, CSMT-Thane and CSMT-Mankhurd services remained suspended as the Mithi River water level had reached 3.6 metres, one metre above the danger level. With the river overflowing, tracks at four key stations — Kurla, Sion, Chunabhatti, and Govandi, were waterlogged, with 16 to 17 inches of water above track level. Running trains under such conditions was not possible. One train was, however, operated between Kurla and Kalyan at 5.45 pm.
By 6 pm, suburban services had resumed on the CSMT-Bandra-Andheri-Goregaon route, as well as on the Thane-Kalyan-Kasara, Thane-Vashi, Mankhurd-Panvel, and Belapur-Uran routes.
For outstation trains, 16 services were rescheduled, seven pairs cancelled, and five short-terminated or short-originated from Pune, Panvel, and Nashik. Among the worst affected were the Mumbai-Pune sector trains such as the Deccan Queen, Pragati, Sinhagad, and Intercity, along with long-distance services like the CSMT-Howrah Duronto and CSMT-Hyderabad Express.
As of now, 92 BEST bus routes remain affected on 34 roads. Earlier in the day, CR reported that the Mithi River had crossed the danger mark and that the BMC had shut the gates, which further aggravated problems on the tracks.
The wettest 24 hours since 2017, says BMC
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) analysis of Tuesday’s rainfall pattern and the waterlogging experienced shows that just a few hours of unprecedented rain was responsible for the strain on infrastructure across the city. No untoward incidents were reported in Mumbai during this time.
In the 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, the island city and eastern suburbs received 300 mm of rain, whereas the western suburbs received 361 mm. This is the highest recorded in 24 hours since 2017, when the city had received 420 mm rain. In the 10 hours between 8 am to 6 pm on Tuesday, Mumbai city reported 79.27 mm of rain, while the eastern suburbs reported 108.81 mm, and the western suburbs reported 115.92 mm.
So far this monsoon, the Colaba weather station has recorded 67.10 per cent of the average monsoon rainfall, at 1405.8 mm, while the Santacruz weather station has recorded 90.62 per cent of the average annual rainfall, amounting to 2102.8 mm. A senior civic official said, “Even though July is the wettest recorded month of the monsoon season, the month of August has reported unprecedented rainfall over the past 24 hours alone.”
- Eeshanpriya MS
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