MUMBAI: Torrential rains wreaked havoc in the city on Sunday leaving 32 dead and six others injured in five separate incidents of landslides, electrocutions and a house collapse.
The downpour began in the early hours of Sunday and continued through the day.
A landslide in Mahul’s Bharat Nagar claimed the most lives with 19 people reported dead till evening; rescue operations were on at time of going to press.
In Vikhroli’s Surya Nagar, 10 hutment dwellers were killed as five shanties collapsed after a landslide.
Both the Centre and state announced relief for the families of those killed in landslides in Mahul and Vikhroli.
One person was reported dead after a house collapse in Bhandup (W).
A 26-year old man was electrocuted at an Andheri shop in the morning and another 21-year old man was electrocuted at Kandivli (E) after he came into contact with a submerged electric box.
He was trying to move his belongings to a safer place during the downpour.
Meanwhile in Nalasopra, a four-year-old boy is feared to have fallen into a manhole that was left open to drain out rainwater on Sunday.
Read AlsoPreparation for wedding of sister saved this man’s lifeMUMBAI: Kishore Subhash Ghasing (34), who has been living at the New Bharat Nagar hill slope in Mumbai for nearly two decades, had a lucky escape during the landslide as he was busy preparing for the marriage ceremony of his younger sister, Rekha, in Mahul.
“My sister got married today (Sunday), but“Saddened by the loss of lives due to wall collapses in Chembur and Vikhroli in Mumbai,” PM Narendra Modi tweeted.
He announced Rs 2 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund to the next of kin of those who died in the landslides and Rs 50,000 to those who were injured.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray announced Rs 5 lakh ex gratia each to the families of the deceased and free treatment for the injured.
He asked authorities to ensure that medical facilities continue unhampered at jumbo Covid centres.
The Mumbai airport was shut for close to five hours early on Sunday morning and some flights were diverted to other cities.
Road and rail traffic was also hit.
Power outages were reported in several areas for as long as eight hours.
Parts of the city were waterlogged with water entering homes in both the eastern and western suburbs.
Some parts of the city did not receive drinking water after flood-water entered the Bhandup water purification complex and operations were shut down.
At 1pm on Sunday, the IMD issued a red alert indicating extremely heavy rains at isolated places for a 24-hour period for Mumbai.
For the second time in two days, Mumbai saw intense rain activity overnight with as much as 200mm of rain being recorded in six hours (11.30am-5.30am) on July 18.
In a 24-hour period ending at 8.30am on Sunday, the IMD’s Santacruz observatory had recorded 235 mm rain and Colaba observatory, 197 mm of rain.
The rain recorded by the Santacruz observatory is the second highest for the season with the highest being recorded on July 16 (253 mm).
By Sunday morning, Vihar became the second lake this monsoon overflow after Tulsi.
Intense rain was recorded over the catchment area lakes supplying water to Mumbai between July 17 and 18 for the first time this season.
Several parts of the city were waterlogged and chronic flooding spots submerged were till Sunday afternoon.
Both the eastern and western suburbs reported heavy flooding with water entering homes in several areas, including Bhandup, Kurla, Nahur, Borivli and Goregaon.
The BMC claimed that its pumping stations ejected 4423.50 million litres of water till 9am.
Offices and staff quarters of the forest department within Sanjay Gandhi National Park were flooded.
Five families had to be shifted to the rest house and roads in the tourism area were damaged.
Power outages were witnessed in parts of Colaba, Mumbai Central, Mahalaxmi, Bandra, Kurla, Malad, Kandivli, Ghatkopar, Sewri.
In some places, the outage lasted for as long as eight hours.
BEST buses were diverted on 118 routes in Mumbai due to water logging at 34 locations across island city and suburbs, including Sion, Gandhi market, Hindmata, Andheri, Chembur and Kurla.
Several buses broke down and were towed to depots.
Trains were suspended on the suburban section during the early hours and services were fully restored at 8.30-9am on Western Railway and at 11am on Central Railway.
The tracks at Sion and Chunabhatti were flooded.
Taxis and autos were also fewer in numbers as a result of waterlogging.
Mumbai airport was closed for flights from 12.42am to 5.24am, during which nine flights were diverted to other airports, said a Mumbai International Airport Ltd spokesperson, adding that flight operations were normal during the day.
Said an official from the airport: “Initially the airport was shut to flights due to heavy rain which led to poor visibility.
Later, around 2.30am, the flight suspension had to continue due to waterlogging on the main runway.”