Rain mayhem in Mumbai: Trees fall, roads submerged

A 65-year-old woman was injured after a tree branch collapsed on her house at Chapel Lane in Santacruz on Saturday at 4.20pm. Vimal Lala sustained injuries to her head and was rushed to Cooper Hospital. Her condition is now stable. The city recorded 10 incidents of tree collapses on Saturday, of which 5 were in the western suburbs, four in the eastern suburbs and one in the Island city. No other injuries were reported.

Following a few hours of heavy showers on Saturday, waterlogging was reported in Hindamata, Matunga and Sion, Kurla, Santacruz, Juhu and Ghatkopar. In a situation similar to that on September 4, when very heavy rainfall brought Mumbai to a standstill, logged water in various areas did not recede for over four to five hours, leaving commuters to wade through one- to two-foot-deep water.

While responding to why the water did not recede for several hours, Vijay Singhal, additional municipal commissioner and in-charge of the stormwater drains department, said, “We are analysing the situation to figure out what the problem is. I visited the Mithi river on Saturday, and the Prem Nagar nullah and Bandra Kurla Complex area to see exactly what went wrong. Within two days, we will figure out whether this is a fundamental issue or a local issue.”

Nine cases of short circuit were recorded across the city, of which one was in the eastern suburbs and eight in the western suburbs. Lake levels in the seven lakes that provide water to the city were 97.83% full on Saturday morning, as the catchment area received between 29mm and 85 mm rainfall in the 24 hours between Friday morning and Saturday morning. While the Central and Western suburban train serves were largely unaffected on Saturday, there was a delay of 10 to 15 minutes, owing to low visibility. BEST bus services were running normally, except the diversion of a few routes due to waterlogging and the on-going Ganesh festival.