Triple-digit rain lashes Mumbai Metropolitan Region, 2 swept away; two lakes supplying city overflow, 10% water cut goes next week

MUMBAI: Two people were swept away in the backwaters of Barvi Dam of Badlapur as skies opened up over the city and Mumbai Metropolitan Region from the early hours of Thursday, bringing the season's heaviest downpour so far. Multiple agencies including the revenue dept, police, disaster management and fire brigade launched a search.
More than Mumbai, extended regions of MMR such as Thane, Kalyan, Karjat and Raigad received approximately 200mm of rain and bore the brunt of the downpour.
Meanwhile, the city's rickety infrastructure went down on its knees, with reports of traffic congestion due to waterlogging and potholes. Mumbaikars were caught unawares as they woke to intense rain activity, for IMD had merely issued a yellow alert forecast on Wednesday. No sooner did the weather dept upgrade to a red alert on Thursday than the rain came to an abrupt halt.

Around 2.35pm, soil and stones from Gilbert Hill in Andheri came crashing down. BMC said the affected area was barricaded and no one was injured. Andheri resident and Youth Congress member Hargun Singh said, "Debris fell on a car. What precautions have been taken to ensure such incidents don't recur?" In Kurla, the Mithi river whose danger level is 3.5 metre reached 2.7 metre, though no evacuation was required. RTI activist Anil Galgali, a local resident, said, "Water reached the Kranti Nagar culvert next to the Mumbai airport runway."
Thane received 155mm of rain, following which guardian minister Shambhuraj Desai instructed the administration to consider barring public access to waterfalls and picnic spots. In Navi Mumbai, potholes surfaced on Sion-Panvel Highway near Kalamboli Circle. The Karanjade node of Cidco witnessed flooding due to swelling Gadhi river, inconveniencing thousands.
In Mumbai, BEST diverted 28 bus routes. Aggregator cabs showed surge prices that were double the normal fare. Typically, drivers of kaali-peeli taxis and autos refused rides.
An accident occurred on Coastal Road around 10.30am when an app cab changed lanes, causing the car behind to crash into it. Thereafter a taxi hit the car and spun out of control. The incident was seen on CCTV; no one was injured.
Eastern Freeway became waterlogged while Andheri Subway was shut after a swell of 1.5ft of water. Traffic officials said school attendance was sparse and many office-goers opted to work from home.
Central Railway cancelled 94 services due to speed restrictions driven by poor visibility and waterlogged tracks. Western Railway was normal.
Thirty-two trees crashed in Mumbai, 15 in Navi Mumbai and 14 in Thane. Yasin Tadvi, in-charge at Thane's regional disaster management cell, said a conservancy worker was injured by a tree fall.