Mumbai braces for more rain: Flights disrupted, hundreds stuck on train

Heavy rain forced the diversion of at least 17 inbound flights, while hundreds of passengers were stuck on the Mumbai-Kolhapur Mahalaxmi Express train near Vangani since Friday night. Some flight operations were resumed in Mumbai on Saturday morning after heavy rain paralysed the city and its surrounding areas.

Rail service was also severely disrupted in Mumbai, the financial capital of the country, after heavy rain continued overnight. On Saturday morning, at least 11 flights were cancelled at the Mumbai airport due to poor visibility, according to India’s NDTV channel. Several flights were diverted, too.

Meanwhile, two military helicopters and six boats of the National Disaster Response Force were sent in to rescue as many as 700 people stranded on board a passenger train about 60 km out of Mumbai on Saturday.

Massive waterlogging was reported at Badlapur on Saturday, while many buildings were flooded after Ulhas river overflowed as heavy showers pummeled Mumbai.

The rain had also forced the cancellations of seven outbound flights and four incoming planes while eight flights were asked to circle and nine were diverted past midnight.

Mumbai’s suburbs received 73-303 mm rainfall in the 24 hours starting Friday morning, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported.

Forecasters also predict heavy rainfall through Saturday. A few spells of heavy rain across isolated areas in the city and its suburbs have been predicted on Sunday.

Friday’s rain left several arterial roads in the city waterlogged that sparked traffic jams and threw life India’s financial capital out of gear.

Incessant rain has submerged railway tracks at Badlapur railway station on the Central line of Mumbai Suburban Railway network, following rainfall in the region.