Heavy rains affect traffic

NAGPUR: The incessant rains since Saturday morning threw normal life out of gear, severely affecting rail, road as well as air traffic all over the the city and adjoining parts.
The heavy downpour paralysed flight schedules, especially those coming from Mumbai where heavy rains have marooned the state capital.
All three Nagpur-bound flights from Mumbai — Indigo, Jet and Kingfisher — arrived about one to two hour late.The Indigo Mumbai-Nagpur-Kolkata flight was cancelled and it will now only operate between Kolkata and Nagpur. In addition, the evening flight of Indigo to Mumbai was cancelled. The Indian Nagpur-Mumbai flight was diverted to Bangalore.
Similarly, Mumbai-bound flights of Jet and Kingfisher were diverted to other destinations. Furthermore, the Kolkata-Mumbai direct flight of Kingfisher and Chennai-Mumbai flight of Jet were also diverted to the city.
The goods train traffic came to grinding halt on Central Railway division following a parapet wall collapse between Khapri and Ajni stations near Somalwada as a result of heavy rains. However, passenger traffic on the route remained unaffected.
According to the sources, the Nagpur-bound trains from Mumbai are likely to be either cancelled or delayed following heavy rains at both the destinations. The Central Railway traffic was at standstill in the morning due to flooding of tracks in Mumbai.
However, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) services were remained unaffected barring arrival-departure services getting delayed at most of the places.
The incessant rains forced many residents in low-lying areas to take shelter elsewhere as gushing water inundated their homes. Many roads of city including West High Court road, East High Court Road, Zilla Parishad office, Ambazari Layout, Martin Nagar, etc, were in knee-deep water thus causing a lot of inconvenience to the commuters and subsequently resulting in traffic jams.
The residents of Friends Colony in city were in trouble as rainwater entered their homes. However, corporator of the area Harish Gwalbanshi himself led the clean-up operations with his associates. The residents also joined him and after prolonged efforts they succeeded in removing blockages resulting in receding of water.
The road side vehicle repair workshops had a good day as they did brisk business of repairing two-wheelers that developed trouble due to water entering in vital parts.
The Nag and Pilli rivers, which hardly had any water was also seen flowing in full might with swelling waters entering in many low lying areas.
The continuous downpour however had made a perfect day for the youngsters who were seen roaming on their bikes on their shorts or capries with their friends on pillion. They were seen moving in the groups on West High Court Road, Telankhedi Lake, Ambazari Lake and Sadar.