While half of Maharashtra battles drought; Mumbai reels under flood

Life comes to a stand-still in Maharashtra's Mumbai as heavy rains continue to lash the maximum city for the fourth consecutive day. Four deaths, one due to electrocution and three caused by lightning, were reported on Monday. Several areas have been waterlogged disrupting normal life.

Mumbai (Maharashtra): While nearly 50 per cent of Maharashtra's geographical area, which incorporates around 72 per cent districts, is being hit by drought and consequent crop failure, Mumbai, a city on India's west coast, has been witnessing extremely heavy rainfall leading to deaths, waterlogging and hours-long traffic jams for the fourth consecutive day.

Four days into the monsoon season hitting Mumbai city, four people were killed on the fourth day (Monday) itself, with one being electrocuted to death and three others died after being struck by lightning.

Mohammed Ayub Kazi, a 30-year-old man, was electrocuted inside his home in Shivajinagar, Govandi suburb in north-east Mumbai. He was rushed to the Rajawadi Hospital where he was declared dead.

Three others, including a woman, were killed and two injured after being struck by lightning as they took shelter from heavy rain in a shed in Solapur on Monday afternoon.

"The five victims were waiting for the rains to subside in a shed near the Mandrup village when suddenly lightning struck them. The three killed are Parvati M. Kore, 55, Chatursingh J. Rajpu, 41 and Sanket D. Chormule, 17. The other two have been rushed to the district hospital," said Mandrup police official Baburao Rathod.

Transport services remain affected

Overnight heavy spells of rain inundated at least 137 spots all over Mumbai, including Dadar, Sion, Matunga, Parel, Wadala, Mahim, Santacruz, Andheri, Jogeshwari, Malad, Dahisar and virtually halted all traffic movement, leading to huge traffic snarls since daybreak.

Flights to and from Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport were delayed by 35 minutes owing to heavy rain and low visibility.

Long-distance services on the Central Railway's Mumbai-Pune sector were hit following the derailment of at least four wagons of a goods train between Jambrung and Thakurwadi in the Monkey Hill section of the Western Ghats early on Monday.

Several Mumbai-Pune trains were cancelled, some diverted and other long-distance trains hit at various locations en route.

Railway tracks were flooded at locations like Sion, Matunga and Kurla, impacting the CR's suburban sector with trains running behind schedule, delaying lakhs of office-goers and students.

Severe flooding witnessed across the city

Road traffic took the brunt of the heavy rain with water-logging in several areas of the city, eastern and western suburbs, though a majority of the subways escaped flooding as the BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation activated pumps to throw out the gushing rainwater.

As students were stranded in the rain in different areas, some schools in and around central Mumbai declared a precautionary holiday.

Heavy rainfall in Thane's Bhiwandi has also led to waterlogging and flooding on the Bhiwandi-Gujarat road breaking links between several villages.

Stagnant water has started entering houses in Rafiq compound of Nadi Naka in Bhiwandi. The water is up to 4-5 feet deep in some houses causing severe discomfort and inconvenience to the residents.

In Palghar district, the Surya River was hovering near the danger mark, posing a risk to at least 26 villages on its banks even as relief agencies were kept on standby.

Thane city and district were also lashed by heavy flooding several parts of the city, including housing complexes, stranding people and halting vehicular traffic.

The IMD has forecast heavy to very heavy spells in and around Mumbai on Monday, with rainy conditions likely to continue for the next four days, and temperatures at a maximum of 28 degrees and 23 degrees.