Kabir Singh
The city of Mumbai is under havoc due to heavy rainfall. As relentless overnight rains battered Mumbai and neighboring areas, several people died in house collapses followed by landslides, causing major water-logging and disrupting local train and car traffic. A total of 11 locations have recorded wall collapses, two of which were fatal.
At 2.30 a.m., landslides in Mumbai’s Vikhroli area killed at least five hutment dwellers after five shanties fell due to persistent nighttime rainfall. The crumbling of compound walls after landslides near houses led to the killing of more than ten people at Bharatnagar Vashi Naka neighbourhood in Mumbai’s Mahul district.
Some photos from the scene
Social Media Updates
As updates regarding the on ground situation, the Deputy General of NDRF, Satya Narayan Pradhan has tweeted the following:
“Three bodies have been discovered, and five to six more people are believed to be trapped under the debris of the building that fell in Vikhroli region following excessive rainfall in Mumbai,” said NDRF Dept. Commandant Ashish Kumar.
Flooding in the tracks caused by the overnight torrential rainfalls forced the suspension of suburban commuter trains on both Central and Western Railways in the economic capital, railway authorities said.
The heavy rains reminded some Mumbai residents of the 944 mm of rain that poured in 24 hours on July 26, 2005.
According to a BMC official, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has declared a red alert for Mumbai due to severe rainfall.
Mumbai had above 100 mm of rain in six hours due to a sudden change in weather condition, the IMD reported early in the morning. The area’s rain forecast was also revised from orange to red alert.
As per the IMD officials, Mumbai and its surrounding regions received around 120 mm of rain in the past 12 hours until 6.30 a.m. on Sunday.
“Mumbai city is likely to get “heavy to very heavy” rainfall in a few locations, with extremely high downpour in isolated locations,” said IMD.
“Extremely torrential rain is defined as more than 204 mm of rain in 24hrs, while heavy rainfall is defined as 115 mm to 204 mm of rain in 24hrs,” IMD added.
Apart from instances of walls collapsing due to heavy rainfall, short circuits were also reported in numerous locations of Mumbai. Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray declared a Rs. 5 lakh ex-gratia for the families of the deceased victims.
Find our other article, Danish Siddiqui: Reuters’ Photojournalist Killed In Afghanistan or look for more at vrikah.
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings