Mumbai Received a Month’s Rainfall in Just Days

Mumbaikars got some much-needed relief on Wednesday as heavy rains took a break and the suburban train services, including those on the Western line, resumed functioning. The local train services were badly affected on a section of the Western Railway (WR) on Tuesday due to inundation of the tracks. The road traffic was moving smoothly after four days of heavy rains, which had crippled life in the megacity.

In just 10 days, the city received 864.5 mm rain, which is nearly equal to what it gets in an entire month, the MeT department said. The local trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, had been suspended between Nallasopara and Virar stations on the Western line on Tuesday.

"We started our services from Churchgate (in South Mumbai) to Dahanu Road (in Palghar district) this morning with a speed restriction between Bhayander and Virar stations where water level did not permit us to run the trains at the regular speed," a senior railway official said. "The speed restriction resulted in cancellation of 130 suburban trains. Fifteen long-distance trains of the Western Railway were also cancelled," the official said.

Nineteen express trains had to be short-terminated (terminated on an earlier station) while four express trains were partially cancelled. The National Disaster Response Force or NDRF, police and fire brigade personnel had rescued 2,000 passengers of Shatabdi Express and Vadodara Express.