Mumbai limping back to normal, high tide ahead

MUMBAI: Monday night's incessant rains in Mumbai that continued on Tuesday morning did not disrupt life totally in the city though it did slow down transport systems, causing a lot of inconvenience.
Of the three rail corridors (Central, Harbour and Western railway network) trains on the western line were functioning albeit arriving at destinations 20-25 minutes late.Harbour line too was operational. It was only the train services on the Central Railway line that were reported to be affected due to waterlogging on the tracks between Kurla and Vidyavihar in the central suburbs. Knee deep waterlogging was also reported from the low lying areas of Hindmata, Parel in central Mumbai and in the suburbs of Bandra, Sion, Chembur, Ghatkopar and Andheri. In the morning traffic was diverted on Dr Ambedkar (Byculla to Sion) Road to avoid a snarl.
Life is back to normal and currently the roads are clear. However, due to early morning rains schools in the water logged areas like Parel and Hindmata decided to close, as a precaution. Twenty four hours of heavy rains since last night in the city caused panic. However since 10 am (IST) in the morning it has not rained in the main city and so the water level has receded and traffic is back to normal.
It continues to rains in the far flung suburbs of Thane. Since the transport services have resumed, people are going about their normal life. Mumbai has not received any rainfall in the past fortnight. It's important that the outskirts of the city receive adequate rainfall since most lakes are situated there. Due to inadequate rainfall in the last fortnight the municipal corporations was thinking of resorting to water cuts.
Around 200 mm of rain was recorded in Colaba, in South Mumbai, while Santa Cruz suburbs recorded 142.9 mm of rainfall. The vehicular traffic was disrupted due to landslides in the Mumbai-Pune expressway. Flights from the international airports were delayed by around 30-90 minutes.
Mumbai faces high tide in next 6 days
From July 2-7 there will be high tide rising to the height of 484mm, which on Friday will go up to the level of 483mm while heavy rains may lead to water logging, especially in the low lying areas, informed Mumbai's Municipal Commissioner, Jairaj Pathak on Tuesday afternoon at a press conference .
He told the press help of the Navy had been sought and its personnel would be deployed at Kurla-Krantinagar from July 2-7 (equipped with boats) for emergency operations.
In the last 24 hours (Monday to Tuesday) the water level of Mithi River had increased but it is not overflowing. Mithi River had caused the maximum havoc, three years ago, during the July 25 deluge.
On Tuesday, water logging was reported at 19 places in the city, said the commissioner. This year the lakes have received more than 100 ml of rains, considered to be a good amount, as the monsoon has just hit the state, after some sporadic rainfall in early June.