open drain

waterlogged

rail traffic

Cheetah Camp

BMC

M-East ward

IMD

monsoon

PHOTO BY RAJU SHINDE

2-year-old drowns in, many areas, road andhit.As pre-monsoon showers lashed the city on Thursday, a two-year-old drowned in an open drain outside his grandparents’ house in Chembur.Adihan Parvez Tamboli was playing near a drain on MJ Road inwhen he allegedly slipped and fell in. His grandfather, Adam Abbas Tamboli, 55, dived after him, but all he could get his hands on was some floating garbage. “He got stuck between two chambers of the drain. By the time we pulled him out an hour later, he was dead,” said Adam.Sunil Gaokar, senior inspector of Trombay police station, said an accidental death report was filed. “Only after an inquiry will an FIR be registered against theor the contractor.”Adam said the BMC had not cleaned the drain as part of its monsoon-preparedness. He said its officials failed to turn up after being alerted of the tragedy.Adihan had recently arrived in the city from Aurangabad with his mother for her second childbirth.Shriniwas Kilje, assistant commissioner of, was not available for comment.Meanwhile, the rain — which theclaimed was not part of the— caused waterlogging in parts of Dadar, Parel, Hindmata, Worli, Vikhroli, Kurla, Chembur, Malad, Kandivali, Jogeshwari and Bandra. Twenty tree falls were reported. The wall of a house collapsed in the eastern suburbs, but no casualty was reported. The city registered 27.06 mm of rainfall, and the suburbs 37.08 mm.Traffic in Dadar TT, Parel, Hindmata, Haji Ali Junction and Andheri came to a grinding halt for hours. Several other stretches saw minor bottlenecks.Ravinder Bhakar, chief PRO, Western Railway, said trains ran as per the schedule, but many commuters complained that services were delayed by 10-15 minutes in the morning. The Central Railway, too, claimed that there was no disruption despite waterlogging in Sion. Over 12 Harbour line trains were delayed by 10-20 minutes after a train jumped a traffic light in the evening.A Jet Airways London-Mumbai flight was diverted to Ahmedabad in the morning owing to inclement weather. There was no flight cancellation, said a Mumbai airport spokesperson. The airport reported a departure delay of 48-60 minutes in the afternoon. It dropped to 22 minutes in the evening.School students were not as affected as only ICSE institutions have started the new academic year. State board schools will begin classes on June 15.Khar’s Beacon High School cancelled its afternoon session following some parents’ requests. Some other schools saw similar requests, even in areas that were not inundated. Anil Garg, president of the School Bus Owners’ Association, said there was no change in school schedules. “A few buses were delayed by 45-60 minutes in picking up students because of traffic on waterlogged streets.”