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Mumbai’s lifeline faces worst derailment since 26/7

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Heavy rain disrupts normal life in Mumbai

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24 घंटे में पानी-पानी हो गई मुंबई, अगले 48 घंटे तक राहत नहीं

MUMBAI: Mumbai’s wettest June day since 2005 brought it to its knees on Friday, with the suburban train network getting crippled, roads getting water-logged, most office-goers not even venturing out of their homes, and the few who did getting fleeced by taxi and rickshaw-wallahs.Santacruz recorded 283.4mm of rainfall in the 24 hours from 8.30am on Thursday to 8.30am on Friday , higher than the 209.6mm on June 24, 2007, which had been the record for the month in the past decade. Colaba, on the other hand, got 208.8mm.The season’s required total rainfall for Colaba is 2,230mm, while for Santacruz it is 2,558mm, so over 10% of this was received by the city in a single day. From 8am to 5.30pm on Friday, Colaba recorded 74.4mm of rainfall and Santacruz 111.8mm.Mumbai will see heavy rain on Saturday as well, the met department said. The state education department has asked schools and colleges to remain shut on Saturday.Two persons – a 60-year-old man and his five-year-old grandson – were electrocuted in Sardar Nagar in Wadala early Friday morning as the claims of monsoon preparedness of the cash-rich BMC, which has a budget of Rs 33, 514.15 crore, were washed away, with water-logging reported across the city.Cyclone system off Gujarat, low pressure in east to keep Mumbai wetIn a major embarrassment to the civic body, the Cleveland pumping station, built at a cost of Rs 116 crore and inaugurated by Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray on Wednesday, developed a problem after a boulder got stuck in one of its gates. The pumping station was supposed to handle waterlogging at Worli, Koliwada, Dadar and Senapati Bapat Marg.The civic body had claimed to have completed 99.4% of desilting work till June 3, and the percentage of desilting work done at Mithi river was 99.3, officials had said. Rs 250 crore have been spent on desilting over 2 years. Yet the city saw flooding even in localized areas, and the water level in Mithi went up to 4.5 metres on Friday evening, creating panic among civic officials as it was just 0.2 metres below the danger mark.While the BMC’s disaster control room was full of activity, with 1,000 calls received till as early as 10am, the place also saw a stream of politicians coming in, from chief minister Devendra Fadnavis , who was the first to visit, to Shiv Sena’s Aditya Thackeray . CM Fadnavis assured that he would solve Mumbai’s water-logging issues in six months. Uddhav Thackeray had earlier said, as head of the ruling Sena in the BMC, that there would be no flooding this monsoon.However, Madhav Chitale, noted hydrologist who had submitted recommendations to ensure a flood-free city post the 2005 floods, was scathing in his criticism of the BMC. He said his report had made clear what kind of preparations were needed, and if the city could not handle rain, it was “a clear indication” the recommendations had not been implemented.The local train network disruption was the worst since the 26/7 deluge in 2005 as flooding prevented CR from running services on the CST-Thane and CST-Vashi stretch from morning till late evening and even WR services were suspended between Churchgate and Andheri from 10.30am to 4.20pm because of water-logging at Matunga Road and Elphinstone Road.WR’s divisional railway manager Shailendra Kumar said, “There was 200-250 mm of water on tracks as water could not recede via Dharavi nallah handled by the BMC administration.”While CR cancelled 8 long-distance trains and revised timings of 5, WR revised timings of four outstation trains. CR has decided to cancel three long-distance trains on Saturday.Major roads, among them Santacruz-Chembur Link Road, Peddar Road and SV Road, were clogged. Other areas badly hit were Nepean Sea Road, Matunga’s Gandhi market, Chembur’s Umarshi Bappa to Surana Hospital stretch, Sion, Bhoiwada-Hindmata, Parel TT, Byculla’s Palace Cinema, Dadar TT and Mahim’s SK Bole Road.Motorists reported snarls on the Bandra-Worli sea link, Worli Naka, and Malad Link Road and Andheri Link Road. Trees collapsed at five locations in the morning.BEST operated 212 special buses to cater to those stranded outside railway stations and on their way to office. But more than 50 buses were stuck in traffic snarls in the island city in the morning, and a few buses broke down.Fleecing and refusals by autos and taxis were rampant. Several cabbies overcharged passengers. One of them, at Vikhroli, demanded Rs 500 to travel just a 10 km distance, which would have cost not more than Rs 150. By Friday afternoon, more than 50% taxis and autos were off the roads.The BMC’s alert in the morning to schools asking them to stay shut for the day probably saved the day for many Mumbaikars who were alerted by the message and did not leave for their workplace.Arrivals and departures at Mumbai airport were delayed by an average of 45 minutes. Though there were no flight cancellations, three arrivals had to be diverted to Ahmedabad and Vadodara.The Bombay high court declared a holiday on Friday, and the Mumbai University pushed back all senior-college admission dates to Monday.Parts of the island city and suburbs faced power outage as at least a dozen sub-stations were shutdown temporarily as a “precautionary measure”Of the seven lakes that supply water to the city, only Vihar and Tulsi lakes, which are situated within city limits, recorded a rise in water levels. Other catchment areas did not benefit from the heavy rain.But not everything was bad for Mumbaikars: many of them took in the showers at Marine Drive and Worli seaface, while others welcomed the extended weekend and looked forward to a relaxed Saturday and Sunday.