RAIN IN MUMBAI June 25-26-2018

Traffic snarls severe waterlogging was reported in parts of Goregaon,

Andheri, Kandivali, Sion, Malad, Khar, Wadala, Five Gardens, Chembur
and Kurla. Waist-deep water was reported at Postal Colony in Chembur
and, knee-length waterlogging was witnessed at Vile Parle east near Milan
Subway. Traffic was affected at Khar, Malad and Andheri subway due to
waterlogging and authorities diverted routes at Sion, Powai, Chembur,
Milan Subway and Santa Cruz.

Parts of Kurla near the Mithi River and Santa Cruz Chembur Link Road
witnessed severe waterlogging for hours. Motorists had to drive through
waterlogged roads in Dadar TT, Parel Junction and Mahim. The situation
was worst in parts of western suburbs.

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The traffic police have made arrangements to ensure smooth traffic,
especially during peak hours, in case of heavy rainfalls. Personnel of the
department have been instructed to be prepared in case of a waterlogging
owing to mega projects such as Metro construction as more than 2,000
constables and 750 wardens were ordered to be out on the roads on
Monday. They have also made arrangement on the Western Express
Highway, SV Road and Link Road in the western suburbs to ensure
smooth flow of traffic.

“Commuters are suggested to keep a check on Twitter and radio channels

as we will be communicating about the diversions,” said Amitesh Kumar,
joint commissioner of police (traffic).

Sunday’s showers brought down temperatures even though humidity levels

continued to stay high.

From June 1 to June 24, Colaba station received 595. mm of rains and
Santa Cruz station, which is representative of Mumbai, recorded 455.5mm.

The Met department has set 523.1mm as the average rainfall that Mumbai
usually records in June.

Thane

The heavy rainfall also affected several areas in Thane, which recorded
229.81mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours. There has been a rainfall of
849.81mm since the last two days as compared to 488.00mm last year
during the same period.

The city witnessed waterlogging in various areas like Naupada, Ghantali

and Vandana theatre. At least ten trees fell since Sunday and wall collapse

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was reported on Monday from Raunak Park Society opposite Manomay
building. “A 65-feet compound wall collapsed during morning hours on
three vehicles damaging a two-wheeler and two four wheelers.

The Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) and fire brigade were on
site with one emergency tender and a rescue vehicle. No casualty was
reported,” Santosh Kadam, in-charge of RDMC, said. Railway officials said
local trains between Thane-Karjat-Kasara were delayed by 15-20 minutes.
(With agency inputs)

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July 3 Tuesday

Incessant rains pound Mumbai, five injured as part of Andheri bridge

collapses: Top developments.

Normal life was thrown out of gear as persistent rains battered the city and
adjoining areas since Tuesday morning, crippling the Western Railway’s
local train services and causing multiple flight diversions. Five people have
been injured, two of them seriously, after a road overbridge in Mumbai’s
suburban Andheri area collapsed. The meteorological department has
forecast heavy rains in Mumbai and adjoining areas in the next 24 hours.

The Gokhale road overbridge, built in 1971, collapsed near the eastern side
of the railway station this morning due to heavy rains. It halted the local
train services and affected some long-distance trains that caused huge

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inconvenience to the commuters, said Brihamumbai Municipal Corporation
(BMC) officials.

*Mumbai’s famous tiffin carriers ‘Dabbawalas’ also expressed their inability

to operate as the train services on the Western Line were stopped.

Railways Minister Piyush Goyal visited the accident site in the afternoon
and ordered an inquiry by the Commissioner of Rail Safety whose report
would have to be submitted within 15 days. Expressing regret over the
accident, he said it was “very unfortunate” and “most unexpected”. He said
around 700 employees of the railways, helped by some experts from Delhi
and Lucknow, were working on the restoration work and the train services
will be resumed completely by tonight.

*The minister said the last safety audit of Andheri bridge was carried out in
November last year and nothing wrong had been found in that. Goyal said
that during the next six months, a joint safety audit will be conducted by the
railways, the BMC and IIT at the 445 road overbridges, foot overbridges
and bridges over the pipelines in Mumbai as part of efforts to improve
safety for the commuters.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis has asked the Mumbai

police commissioner to ensure smooth traffic movement and asked the
BMC to increase its bus service for the convenience of commuters.

*A Mumbai airport spokesperson said no flight was canceled, but four

flights were diverted to nearby airports. Besides, six flights had to do a go-
around due to the bad weather, the spokesperson said. Private carriers
Vistara, GoAir and Jet Airways said they will accommodate passengers
who were late due to traffic congestion because of the road over-bridge
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collapse in suburban Andheri. Almost all departures from Mumbai airport
were delayed by an average one hour, while two-thirds of flights arriving at
the airport were behind schedule, according to a flight tracking website.

The heavy downpour caused waterlogging in the low-lying areas of

Hindmata, Sion, Parel TT, Nehru Nagar, Kurla, Bhandup, Wadala, Dharavi,
Andheri and Mulund. Pumping machines were pressed into service at
various places to flush out water, a spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai
Municipal Corporation (BMC) said. A city double-decker bus crashed into
an overhead railing near Kalina but no casualty was reported, he said.

*On a brighter side, the heavy rainfall filled up reservoirs that supply water
to the Mumbai city, the BMC said.

* Considering the problems faced by students due to heavy downpour in

the city, the Mumbai University has decided to re-conduct the examination
for students who could not appear due to waterlogging.

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10th July 2018

Non-Stop Rain In Mumbai, Trains Hit, Traffic Crawls:

Mumbai is struggling in non-stop rain that has stalled trains and slowed
traffic to a crawl in places that have been flooded. Some trains have been
cancelled while others are running late by 10 to 15 minutes as tracks are
waterlogged after heavy overnight rain. With the meteorological department
predicting more rain, the city's iconic 'Dabbawala' or lunch box carriers
have cancelled services for today. On Monday, Mumbai received five times
the average rainfall for this season. The Met department has predicted
heavy to very heavy rain till [12th ], Thursday.

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Here are the updates in this big story:

Suburban trains services between Vasai and Virar near Mumbai have been
suspended due to accumulation of rain water on the rail tracks, Western
Railways said. Local train services between south Mumbai's busy
Churchgate station and Vasai are delayed. A railways official said that
services between Churchgate and Borivili are normal. The Central
Railway's suburban services are running normally at all its corridors despite
the heavy rain overnight.

Western Railways shared a photo of rail tracks in Nallasopara on the

outskirts of Mumbai where the tracks seemed to be completely submerged
in water. The water levels near the tracks rose to 460 mm, the railways
said.

Schools and colleges in Mumbai were closed yesterday as a precautionary

measure. While the Maharashtra government hasn't declared a holiday for
Mumbai schools and colleges today, Mumbai University said examinations
will be rescheduled for students who could not appear for them on Monday.

"We did not collect the tiffins today, because of the water-logging across
the city. Our people find hard to wade through their cycle in knee-deep
water," Mumbai Dabbawalas Association's spokesperson Subhash Talekar
said.

Heavy rain with strong winds are being reported from several parts of the
city this morning. Extremely heavy rainfall is likely in parts of Greater
Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar between today and Friday, the
weather department said this morning.

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Visibility at the Mumbai airport was "not very good" but flights were
operating according to schedule on Monday, an Met official said. Jet
Airways said they will not be charging a penalty fee today for date and flight
changes for travelers who've booked their tickets to and from Mumbai.

Due to water-logging, around 300 people were stuck in their homes in

Vasai town of the adjoining Palghar district on Monday. However, they
refused to be evacuated even as the water level receded, an official said.

Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Monday, the Colaba observatory

recorded a rainfall of 104.8 mm.

The city received 54 per cent of its average monsoon season rainfall just in
the last 20 day, the city's civic body noted.

Private weather foresting agency Skymet said the rainfall may cross 150
mm in the next 24 hours.

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 Bengaluru: Heavy rain pummeled different parts of
Karnataka on Sunday.
[8 JULY] Showers lashed different parts of Belagavi district. Besides
Belagavi city, mild rain lashed Gokak, Athani, Harugere and other areas.
Heavy rains were recorded in Western Ghats section of Khanapur taluk,
Malaprabha, Pandari and Mahadayi rivers have swelled. Kankumbi region
received a record 9.3 cm of rain. Traffic on Belagavi Panaji highway was
affected.

With showers continuing to lash Kodagu district, the water level in rivers
Keerehole, Cauvery and Lakmanathirtha have increased drastically.

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Mumbai deluge: Will anything change?

(11TH JULY-2018)

Tonight on Live Stream, we focus on the Mumbai deluge and how this
latest spell of heavy rain has once again brought Mumbai to its knees.

It is a story we see repeated year after year with flooded streets,

flooded homes and track. Today, [11TH JULY] is the fourth day of
continuous rain and more heavy rain is predicted, so Mumbaikars can
expect more disruptions.

This collapse of Mumbai despite the city having the richest

municipality the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, but even the basics
are not taken care of; the streets are riddled with potholes, the manholes
are not covered and this is leading to loss of lives.

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10-7-2018 Tuesday

Mumbai and its suburbs were pounded by torrential rain on Monday,

leading to road and rail disruption for the third consecutive day – and the
eighth this monsoon.

The death toll in rain related incidents in the region since Friday
evening in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) has shot up to six. In
the last four days, many of the suburban areas of Palghar, thane and
Raigad districts- which are part of MMR – recorded 600 to 700 mm plus
rainfall –creating a traffic mess and causing inconvenience to people.

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Nearly 400 villagers and salt pan workers were stranded near the Vasai
Road station, nearly 52 km from downtown Mumbai. There was water all
over in localities like Evershine City, Achole Road, Nalasopara station,
Virar and other places.

There was knee deep water in several places right from Thane city, Kalwa
to Kalyan and Ambernath.

Rail, road and flight services were hit.

The catchment areas, lakes, forests and ghats in the MMR received good
rain. This has resulted in one of the lakes, the Tulsi lake, that provides
potable water to Mumbai to overflow from Monday morning.

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Kerala rains intensify, all 5 floodgates of Idukki dam opened after 40 years

Torrential rains triggered by the south-west monsoon left a trail of

destruction across Kerala on Friday, forcing authorities to open all five
shutters of the Cheruthoni dam in Idukki for the first time in 40 years,
posing a flood threat to many areas downstream, including port city Kochi.

The toll has risen to 29, while at least four people were missing. Idukki and
Wayanad districts, where heavy rains continued for the second day and
showed no signs of stopping, were put on high alert. So was Ernakulam
district as the released dam water is expected to reach Aluva on Kochi’s
outskirts by Friday night.

The state disaster management authority has announced a red alert for
extremely heavy rainfall in Wayanad district till August 14, in Idukki till
August 13 and in Alappuzha, Kottayam, Ernakulam, Palakkad, Malappuram
and Kozhikode till August 11.

According to a revenue department official, it was for the first time that
gates in 24 dams were opened to release excess water and casualties
restricted to some extent due to better planning. State revenue minister E
Chandrasekharan said that the army, navy, air force and National Disaster
Relief Force personnel were pressed into service in affected areas and
their timely deployment has helped save many lives.

“Operation Madad’ has been launched by Navy to assist the state which is
witnessing an unprecedented flood. Besides small search vessels,
helicopters were also pressed into service. Navy hospital is also ready to

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meet any eventuality,” the Kochi-based southern naval command said in a
statement.

Over 10,000 people living along the along the banks of Periyar river, which
is spate, have been shifted to safer places while schools and offices have
been closed in Kochi city and Ernakulam district.

“I never witnessed such water levels in my life. Thanks to preparedness,

human casualties were restricted to an extent. But at the same time, we
have to take a lesson from such disasters. We have to check river and
forest encroachment in a big way,” said Kannan Nair, a retired headmaster
from Aluva, who was shifted to a relief camp in the morning.

The state’s second largest river after Bharatapuzha, Periyar originates from
the Western Ghats and flows through the thickly-populated areas of Kochi

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before merging with the Arabian Sea. It is also the major source of drinking
water to many areas including Kochi, which may go thirsty as sludge from
the Idukki and Idamalayar dams crept into the water-pumping station in
Aluva.

Meanwhile, the famed Nehru Trophy Boat Race, due to be held on August
11 in Alappuzha, has also been postponed.

However, in a spell of relief, rains in the rest of the flood-ravaged state

abated on Friday, according to the Met department.

Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, who was closely monitoring the situation
from his office in Thiruvananthapuram and coordinating with the various
district authorities, described the situation as “very grim”. Holding an
emergency meeting with senior officials of the police and revenue
departments on Friday morning – the second in as many days – to take
stock of the devastation, he will undertake an aerial survey of the affected
areas on Saturday, his office said.

He also talked to Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who assured him of
all possible assistance. The Union Minister is also slated to visit the state
on Sunday and make an aerial survey of the situation.

Vijayan has also appealed to the people to contribute to the chief minister’s
relief fund.

In Idukki, 57 tourists, including 24 foreigners from Russia, Saudi Arabia and

other countries, who were stranded in their resort in Munnar since
Wednesday as a landslide damaged the approach road, have been
rescued.

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With all the five floodgates of the Idukki dam - Asia’s biggest arch dam -
opened, the gushing water rushing downhill has inundated standing crops
and property, especially in Cheruthoni town, whose residents have been
evacuated to safer places.

According to officials, the water level in Idukki dam, whose level is 2,403
feet, crossed 2,399 feet on Thursday, leading to one of the gates being
opened after a gap of 26 years. As the level reached 2,401 feet on Friday
morning, authorities were forced to open two more gates and with heavy
rains continuing unabated in and around the catchment area, the remaining
two gates were also opened.

Kerala Power Minister M.M. Mani, who hails from Idukki, told the media
there that the decision to open more gates was taken to prevent the water
level from reaching its full strength of 2,403 feet, according to an IANS
report.

“This is not going to create any issue as we are soon planning to close
down the shutters. We are confident that things can be controlled,” he
added.

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 Flood alert issued for Cauvery River

In 8 Tamil Nadu districts-August 12-2018

Following heavy discharge of more than one lakh cusecs of Cauvery water
by Karnataka, eight districts of Tamil Nadu, including Nilgiris where all the
major and minor dams are full, have been put on flood alert.

The regional meteorological centre in Chennai has also warned of heavy

rains in western Tamil Nadu.

“So far more than ten people have died in floods and last month, five
people including three women, were washed away in Salem. Considering
the fact that the discharge of water from Kabini and Krishna Raja Sagar
dams is alarming, the low lying areas of Tamil Nadu have now been put on
alert,” a top state government official told HT.

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The state disaster management authority and the collectors of Erode,
Dharmapuri, Salem, Krishnagiri, Tiruvarur, Nagapattinam, Trichy and Karur
have been instructed to be ready for flood mitigation works, the official
added.

The water level of Stanley reservoir in Mettur reached its full capacity of
120 feet and its surplus is being discharged since last month. The previous
surplus released was around 80,000 cusecs and now the inflow is even
higher, said state government sources now monitoring the situation.

The Revenue Department has also reached out to the people residing
along the banks of the Cauvery in Namakkal, Karur, Trichy and Thanjavur,
asking them to be ready for evacuation if required. District collectors have
also been asked to furnish the list of vulnerable spots, where the state
disaster management teams have to be deployed.

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