200mm of rains later...

Above picture is courtesy today's Mid-day. Text goes "Lying in wait: More than, 1,000 outstation commuters slept at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus last night, as several trains on the Konkan route were delayed due to the rainfall. Many local train commuters who missed the last train also spent the night at the station." (For more pictures of yesterday's chaos, click here)

Indeed, the monsoons have arrived. This is what happened last evening after heavy rains and downpours hit the city (201.2mm in Colaba and 143mm in Santacruz - on Day #1, as per Indian Express).

(News collated from the Times of India, Mumbai Mirror and the Indian Express Newsline.)

• Western Railways – 19 trains cancelled. Trains ran anywhere between 5 to 35 minutes late. The WR PRO says “The problem was in the Goregaon-Malad stretch”.

• Central Railways – Trains ran 40 minutes late after being stalled between 6.40pm and 7.30pm as lightening struck an overhead equipment wire between Ghatkopar and Kurla.
  

• Roads – Water-logging at S. V. Road at Khar and Santacruz, LBS Marg, Kurla, Hindmata Dadar, Subways at Malad and Santacruz. Incomplete pre-monsoon work led to flooding in Goregaon, Jogeshwari and Kandivali. Note that June 5^th was the deadline given by the BMC to complete all digging work. Mohan Kadam (Chief Engineer, Roads) says “If we get a dry spell, we will open all these stretches to traffic within a day or two”.
  

• Add to above, waste material like plastic bags, etc collecting over drain entrances. BMC Commissioner Johnny Joseph says “It always happens in the first flush of the monsoon. All the kachra is washed up from all over and it plugs the drains. Once we clear this up, the drains will work smoothly.”

• Finally, Mr. Joseph adds – “Ward officers, assistant engineers in each ward and all senior officers are monitoring the situation and are prepared to handle the situation”.

Meanwhile at the BMC –
“Barely a day after the chief minister inaugurated its much hyped emergency operation centre (EOC) in the basement of its headquarters, the BEST substation next to it was 2.5 feet deep in water. The power went off even as municipal commissioner Johnny Joseph, back from a quick tour of the city, was briefing the press to allay fears about any hazardous situations.”

(Cross posted on my Mumbai Matters blog.)