Mumbai rains: Office-goers take a hit with delays, traffic snarls

Wadala Sion Matunga and Kingrsquos Circle got flooded as it poured on Wednesday morning however the Hindmata area was unaffected thanks to holding tanks and highcapacity water pumps The city moved at a snailrsquos pace as the morning flooding delayed local trains and caused heavy traffic jams The falling of trees and big branches caused by strong wind added to the traffic woes The downpour also resulted in potholes and the civic chief assured fixing them within 48 hoursThe Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation BMC received 113 calls for collapse of trees or big branches through the day Kurla LBS road was twothree feet under water and the Andheri subway was closed for two hours after being submerged The waterlogging intensified owing to a high tide of 468 metres around 11 am but the intensity of rain decreased thereafter and the rainwater receded The Andheri subway reopened around 1115 am once the rainwater recededAlso read Mumbai monsoon Lake levels highest in a decadeKingrsquos Circle dewateredldquoThe highspeed pumps dewatered Kingrsquos Circle after the rain stopped It took one hour to dewater the area and Matunga and Sion police stations were blocked in the morning The BMC spent crores on the project but it works only when the rain stops The city deserves a better solutionrdquo said Nikhil Desai an activist and a resident of MatungaRoad traffic hitThe incessant heavy rainfall slowed down traffic on roads to the south as well as the north inconveniencing the officegoers Motorists travelling via the arterial Western Express Highway between Dahisar and Bandra were also affectedA passenger struggles to shut his umbrella on the bus at Dadar TT on Wednesday PicPradeep DhivarldquoMany motorists using the SV road stretch between Andheri and Milan Subway junction were stuck in southbound traffic as the Metro2 B work is in progress between Vile Parle and Milan Subway junction on SV roadrdquo said Mukesh Waghela a motoristDevanshi Haria a commuter said ldquoThere was a traffic jam on the northbound stretch of WEH between the Hub Mall and the Oberoi Mall due to the potholes on the northbound stretch of Aarey Milk Colony flyoverrdquoWaterlogging at Haji Ali jnThere was halffeet of rainwater at Cadbury Junction in Haji Ali and in Marine Drive ldquoWhenever there is a heavy rainfall water flows over a slope of Peddar Road upto Haji Ali junction But it instantly recedes after the rain stopsrdquo said Prashant Gaikawad assistant commissioner of D ward Northbound traffic was also affected in the morning hoursTree collapseThe city witnessed a large number of tree collapse incidents on Tuesday and Wednesday due to highspeed wind Until Wednesday morning 45 calls of tree collapse were received by the disaster control room of the BMC Out of it 14 were from the city 11 from the eastern suburbs and 20 from the western suburbs On Wednesday 68 more calls were received including 26 from the city 17 from the eastern suburbs and 25 from the western suburbs Trees collapsed at Saat Rasta Mahalaxmi outside Wadala station on Marine Drive halting traffic for a short durationLandslide at PowaiAround 850 am on Wednesday a landslide occurred behind Hiranandani hospital at Hari Om Nagar A part of the retaining wall collapsed on one of the houses The BMC vacated seven houses as a precautionary measurelsquoFill pothole in 48 hoursrsquoAfter starting the pothole yatra BJP MLA Mihir Kotecha and former corporator Vinod Mishra met BMC Commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal on Wednesday and demanded that potholes be repaired within 48 hoursThe BMC has assured citizens they will repair potholes in 48 hours after receiving complaints ldquoBut during the potholes yatra we found that the civic authority is not fulfilling the promiserdquo said Mishra Kotecha demanded that the potholes be filled up within the next 48 hours The civic chief has assured of that he saidldquoDespite heavy rain today and high tide in the morning there was no disruption in the movement of local trains and waterlogged areas were cleared through deployment of nearly 200 dewatering pumps By the evening there isnrsquot any waterloggingrdquo said the civic chiefLocal trains and buses delayedLocal train services on all lines ran smoothly and there was no heavy waterlogging anywhere though there were delays throug the day Central Railway officials said local trains were running ldquonormallyrdquo A WR spokesperson said ldquoWestern Railway has been able to run the services with minimum disruptions despite heavy rainsrdquo There were reports of several breakdowns of BEST buses but the services were not hampered A Correspondent68No of calls for fallen trees branches