Rain switches off power, throws CR out of gear

Mumbai: Four days after suppliers promisedthestate advisory committee on power to provide 24-hour electricity during monsoon, the city's four main supply lines collapsed around 7.55pm on Mondayevening after a heavy spell of shower. Even as half the city plunged into darkness, rains created hurdles in operationson CentralRailway's main as well as Harbour lines, leaving thousands of homeward-bound Mumbaikars stranded. The showers also rained reports of waterlogged roads anduprootedtrees.      According to BEST and RInfra sources, areas in the northern parts of the island city, Dharavi, Dadar, Mahim, Parel, Wadala, and Sion, and parts of the western suburbs, including Bandra, Khar and Santa Cruz, faced power-cuts for almost half an hour. According to BEST, the reason was that six main feeders tripped, though Tata Power apparently restoredsupply in 20 minutes. The state power load monitoring authorities said the lines bringing power to Dharavi, Salsette, Carnac and Parel power distribution centres tripped following a snag. They also suspect lightning and heavy rainscouldhavecaused a fault.      A Reliance source said Bandra, Khar, Santa Cruz, Chunabhatti and Vikhroli, remained in the dark for 25 to 30 minutes, with Vikhroli being the worst affected. But Tata Power officials declined to reveal any information.      Even as the city and the suburbs grappled with the power outage, hundreds of commuters, most of them office-goers returning home, were stranded atCST, with CR trains thrown out of gear.Atreefell near tracksbetween Govandi and Chembur, affecting Harbour line services, and a signal failure was reportedin Kurla on the main line.But the WRwas not affected.      Arailwayspokesperson confirmedthattheCR ran trains15-20 minutes behind schedule, though a passenger said Harbour trainswere40 minuteslate.Around 9pm at CST, there were neither announcements nor indicators showing Harbour schedules. "Noneof usknewwhichtrain would leave next," a passenger said. The situation was no better on roadsthatwerechoc-ablocwithtraffic,owing towaterlogging. Snarls choked Chembur andKurla wheretreesfellon vehicles; BMC disaster cell received 25 complaints of tree falling and10of waterlogging.  Worli gets most rain      The city saw heavy rain and lightning on Monday evening. An average of 26.3mm rain fell in the island city, with Worli registering 72.1mm, said theBMC. In the eastern suburbs, the average rain was 36.9mm and Chembur got 62.5mm. The average rain was 30.8mm in the west, where it rained the most in Bandra (66.6mm). Occasional spells of rain and thundershowers have been forecast for the next 36 hours.  Airport shuts for 35 mins      The airport was shut for 35 minutes and eight arriving flights were diverted after rain caused a drop in visibility on Monday. Strong tail winds made landing difficult. According to MIAL officials, both runways had to be closed from 7.55pm to 8.30pm as visibility dropped below 550 m. "Peak hour starts around 8pm and it was impossible to accommodate all the flights even after runways opened. Eight flights were diverted to Ahmedabad and Nagpur," an official said. Normal operation resumed at 8.32pm, an MIAL spokesman said. Two kids electrocuted in Andheri      Two youngsters, Sagar (14) and Mohammed (11), were electrocuted in Tunga village at Premnagar in Marol, Andheri (E) on Monday. Fire brigade and BMC's disaster management cell sources claimed that the deaths were because of a live cable and not related to the rains. TNN (Inputs from Shawan Sen)