Incessant rains lashing Maharashtra for a day and a half, have affected road and rail traffic following submergence of some low-lying areas prompting authorities to evacuate people in some districts.
In Mumbai, the rains intensified with the metereology office recording 22.8 millimetres of rainfall at Colaba within three hours Thursday morning as against 27.9 millimetres recorded on Wednesday.
Similarly the Santa Cruz observatory recorded 37.8 millimetres rainfall in three hours on Thursday as against 82 mm rainfall in the past 24 hours. Some low-lying areas of Mumbai witnessed minor water logging, while inundation of railway tracks in some sections of the suburbs has led to delays in suburban train services.
Local trains on the Western Railway and the Central Railway lines were running 10 to 15 minutes behind schedule, while the traffic on the Harbour line was normal, railway sources said, adding that the schedule would be normalised soon. Heavy rains in northwestern Maharashtra partially disrupted schedule of long-distance trains to Mumbai.
Road traffic in Mumbai also slowed down with water logging in some suburbs, traffic police said. In Nasik, rivers Godavari, Darna and Waldevi were in spate, prompting the district administration to alert people residing on the banks, official sources said.
In Marathwada region, 700 people were shifted on Thursday from Mantrinagar, Sidheshwarnagar and Gautamnagar areas in Latur district to safer areas, sources said.
Water gushed into several homes as heavy rains lashed Latur and adjoining areas, and four percolation tanks in Ahmedpur and Jalkot areas of the district have breached, sources said.
In Beed district, 125 families from three partially submerged villages were evacuated.
In Mumbai and suburbs, the Andheri and Khar subways were closed to traffic due to heavy water logging, while the Milan-Dahisar and Malad subways in western and north Mumbai were also affected, traffic police said.
The Mumbai fire service control room authorities told PTI that several trees were uprooted and there were reports of short circuit.
The Highway Safety Patrol control room authorities said traffic on the busy Mumbai-Nasik highway was affected this morning after a truck transporting vegetables to Mumbai broke down.
Air traffic on the domestic and international sectors was normal, sources said.
