IT Correspondent
Mumbai, Aug 6:
Several districts of Maharashtra were inundated as the incessant rains continued for the second day on Thursday with different regions remained submerged, throwing normal life out of gear.
In Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra, most of the buildings were submerged and knee deep water gushed into several houses. Similar scenes were also witnessed in Raigad district near Mumbai, where water gushed in houses located in low lying areas. The famous shrine of Narsoba (Dattatraya) located at Kolhapur was totally submerged and the attempts to drain out the water were on. However continued downpour was posing impediment in the work.
The Panchganga river water at Kolhapur in western Maharashtra crossed the warning level on Thursday morning following heavy rainfall in the area, the district disaster management cell said. Nine state highways and 25 other roads in the district have been affected due to the heavy rains, a Public Works Department official said. The Krishna river was also in spate and nearly 90 water weirs were submerged in Kolhapur and Sangli district.
On Thursday morning, water level of the Panchganga river at Rajaram weir reached 41.7 feet. The warning level at the weir is 39 feet while the danger level is 43 feet, according to Kolhapur’s disaster management cell. Collector Daulat Desai has appealed to people living on the river banks to shift to safer places.
On Thursday a wall collapsed on N S Patkar Road at Grant Road in South Mumbai causing traffic disruption. Municipal Commissioner I S Chahal visited the spot to asses the loss caused due to wall collapse.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted heavy rains to continue and issued orange alert for Thane, Palghar, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara districts in Maharashtra. The National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) deployed as heavy rains continue to batter the state. The weather department added that there was some decrease in the cloud mass around the city.
“The Doppler weather radar Mumbai is showing up a little reduction in cloud mass around Mumbai. Intermittent intense spells are going on in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and North Konkan,” deputy director general of IMD, Mumbai, K S Hosalikar said, “Reduction in activity is expected from tomorrow onwards as per the IMD global forecast system model guidance” he added.
The Colaba weather observatory in south Mumbai on Wednesday recorded its highest single-day precipitation in the last 22 years for the month of August, said an India Meteorological Department official. K S Hosalikar, deputy director general of IMD, Mumbai said the Colaba observatory received 293 mm rainfall from 8.30 am to 8.30 pm. In August 1998, the observatory had received 261.9 mm rainfall in 24 hours which was a record for the month till now, but Wednesday’s rain broke it within only 12 hours.
On Wednesday several trees were uprooted, many areas were flooded, as the heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds blowing at a speed up to 107 kmph, continued. The Mumbai fire brigade received 6 complaints of wall and house collapses, 141 complaints of tree and branch fall and 10 cases of short circuits. However no injuries reported.
Water entered the ground floor of the state-run J J Hospital in Mumbai’s Byculla area in South Mumbai, forcing hospital administration to shift some of the patients and equipments on Wednesday. Similarly over 200 commuters were stranded in Mumbai’s local trains since the trains remained stranded between Masjid Bunder and Byculla stations on the Central line in Mumbai. They were evacuated by the teams of National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF).
The railway authorities suspended the suburban train operations between CSMT-Vashi stations on the Harbour line, CSMT-Kurla on the Main line and also between Churchgate and Kurla due to water-logging on tracks around Masjid Bunder, Kurla, Sion, Marine Line and other stations. At least 33 BEST buses providing bus services in Mumbai were stuck across the city due to water logging.
The signage atop the headquarters of Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building in the Fort area of south Mumbai broke-off, due to strong winds and was seen dangling from the facade of the building. As the staff was unable to pull up the signage, the authorities had to call fire brigade to fix it.
A big tree collapsed on the police check-post at the main gate of ‘Mantralaya’, the administrative headquarters of the Maharashtra government in south Mumbai, as rain lashed the city. Nobody was injured in the incident but two vehicles parked outside the check-post were damaged. Renovation work was undergoing in the post. Besides another tree collapsed outside the ‘garden gate’ of Mantralaya. The trees near Mahalaxmi Race Course in South Mumbai were also uprooted due to heavy winds.
Three cranes were damaged at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port container terminal in Navi Mumbai owing to heavy rains. However, there were no injuries and all are safe, a spokesperson said.
Heavy rains caused the roof of Mumbai’s DY Patil Stadium to come crashing down, with the wind blowing away the facade of the Navi Mumbai stadium. Similarly Hockey player Yuvraj Walmiki residing at Marine Lines in South Mumbai, had to seek assistance from the BMC as rainwater seeped inside his house. Yuvraj (30), was part of the Indian team that played in the 2014 Word Cup at The Hague in the Netherlands. His brother Davinder Walmiki also represented India as a defender.
In neighbouring Palghar police saved 22 people stranded after heavy rains caused floods in parts of the district. Those rescued by the Palghar Police on Wednesday included a five-year-old girl, who remained atop a tree for over four hours. The Dahanu taluka in Palghar recorded over 350 mm rainfall and Thane recorded 150 mm rainfall in 24 hours. Teams of the NDRF have been stationed at both Thane and Palghar to deal with any eventualities, NDRF commandant Rajendra Patil said.
