DOWNPOUR LEAVES TWO DEAD

City stuck in waterworld

Mumbai: The second major shower of Monsoon 2009 claimed two lives and caused waterlogging in several areas of the city on Saturday. Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm, Colaba and Santa Cruz received 102.9 and 209 mm of rain, respectively.
    The rains claimed two lives. Govandi resident 40-year-old Manjula Devendra died after being electrocuted on the streets near her home, while 40-year-old Surekha Sabale died when a tree collapsed on her hutment in Kandivli on Friday night. Two others injured in the second incident were treated at Bhagwati Hospital in Borivli.
    Incidents of wall collapse were reported from the Bandra Terminus subway, Kurla, Bandra (East), Chunabhatti, Mahul and Bhandup. Two persons—a woman passenger and a ticket checker—were injured in the Bandra Terminus mishap and taken to Bhabha Hospital.
    Heavy rains overnight and continuing into the morning meant the the usual floodprone spots—Hindmata, Parel, Kalachowkie—went under water for hours, stalling traffic, especially in the evening.
    Drains were clogged at other areas in Juhu, Andheri, Bandra, Mahim, Byculla and
Worli. Several arterial roads from the island city to the suburbs were under water during the first few hours.
    BMC officials, who claimed that water pumps were functional all the time and it took less time than usual for the water to recede, said the showers were heavier than what occurred on June 26. "This is the heaviest shower of the monsoon so far and we now expect rains to arrive in full flow in Mumbai,'' deputy municipal commissioner S S Shinde said.
    For flooding at Hindmata, where corrective measures were carried out in the underground drains recently by the BMC, officials blamed the MMRDA for the mess. "They have not removed barricading around work sites at various places and that has clogged the drains,'' said a BMC official.
    Hasnabad Lane (Santa Cruz west) and Peter Dias Road and St Sebastian Road (Bandra) were under 3 ft of water in the evening. A tree fell near Mehboob Studio, blocking traffic.
    Navi Mumbai, too, got its heaviest downpour on Saturday but public services were not affected. The Nerul node saw the highest rainfall of 77 mm (from midnight to 5 pm), Vashi recorded 71.7 mm and Belapur had 51.3 mm of rain in the same period. There was also waterlogging at a few places in Sanpada, Turbhe, Ghansoli and parts of Belapur.
    "As road traffic was slow on Saturday due to the rains, our buses were running a few minutes late. No breakdown was reported,'' an official at the NMMT control room said.
    A tree fell near Sainath School in Vashi Sector 9; no one was injured.
More rains today
Weather bureau officials said they expected "very heavy showers'' over the next 24 hours. Between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm on Saturday, Colaba and Santa Cruz received 102.9 mm and 209 mm of rain, respectively.
High tide worry
The high tide level on Sunday will be 3.99 m at 11.46 am. This could become a cause for concern if it rains heavily on Sunday as well. The highest point the tide reached on Saturday evening was 3.17 m at 10.21 pm.

DISASTER DOWN UNDER: A wall collapse in the Bandra Terminus subway left two persons injured

TRYING TO STAY AFLOAT: (Clockwise from top) Pedestrians wade through a waterlogged street in Parel; there was heavy flooding in Sion as well; traffic came to a standstill across central Mumbai

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