After Tuesday's deluge, Mumbai struggled to get back on its feet today, with many thousands reaching their homes after being stranded for over 24 hours. Maximum City received around 316 mm of rainfall; much less than what it received on that fateful day in July 2005, but enough to paralyse the megapolis.

Mumbaikars said the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), India's richest civic body, totally let down citizens, who battled all odds to survive and remain safe or unhurt. The Shiv Sena has the maximum number of seats in the corporation.

Faced with a barrage of questions, Uddhav Thackeray, whose Shiv Sena holds the maximum number of seats in the BMC elections, told reporters to "stop the rains yourself".

"....You stop the rains then...Tell me what should I do. Do not think that you have the sole monopoly over Mumbai. We do serve the people, which is why they vote us back to power," he said.

Here's everything you need to know about Day 2 of the Mumbai rains.

The death toll (in and around Mumbai) has risen to 14, the news agency Reuters reported. Two toddlers were among the victims.

In several areas, downpours were lighter today than on Tuesday, which saw Mumbai receive nearly a month's average rainfall in a single day. "The city and suburbs received a few showers in the last few hours but rainfall wasn't heavy like yesterday," said KS Hosalikar, a senior India Metrological Department official.

However, Hosalikar said that "in the next few hours Mumbai and adjourning areas are likely to get fairly widespread rainfall, which will be heavy in few pockets.

Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters

Mumbaikars were mostly left to fend for themselves on Tuesday, but Shiv Sena chief Udhhav Thackeray today said all Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) officials and departments did a good job, given that the extreme rainfall wasn't anticipated. The Shiv Sena won the BMC polls by a slender margin earlier this year.

BMC Commissioner Ajoy Mehta said nearly 30,000 corporation staffers had been out on Mumbai roads since Tuesday and had cleared 5,000 tonnes of garbage among other things.

The Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party targeted both the Shiv Sena and the BJP for their "utter failure" to cope with the situation.

Unfazed by criticism, the Shiv Sena expressed confidence that Lord Ganesha would "protect Mumbai from all such disasters." An editorial in the party's mouthpiece Saamna attacked the "political snakes" in the Opposition for pointing fingers at the party without considering the massive amounts of rain that had lashed Mumbai on Tuesday.

Photo: Reuters Photo: Reuters

Train services haven't fully resumed. But regular crowds were missing, since a holiday had been declared for schools and colleges. Even government servants weren't obliged to report to work if it was unfeasible.

Due to a series of cancellations, massive delays, and diversions of several long-distance trains to and from Mumbai, thousands of passengers remained stranded at railway stations and terminals like Borivali, Lokmanya Tilak Terminus, Bandra, Mumbai Central, Dadar Terminus and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus.

Mumbaikars faced the prospects of a fresh spiraling of prices of fruits, vegetables and essentials, due to a decline in supply from wholesale centres outside the city.

(Inputs from agencies)

ALSO READ

Mumbai rains: Don't invoke 'spirit of Mumbai' to hide your failures, locals warn politicians

Mumbai rains in pictures: Rains wreak havoc in Maximum City

ALSO WATCH

Mumbai rains: Uddhav Thackeray right in praising BMC and slamming media?