Shinde reviews situation, visits BMC disaster management control room

Mumbai: Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday took stock of the heavy rain situation in Mumbai by chairing a meeting at Mantralaya and visiting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) control room.

Some areas of Mumbai received more than 300 mm of rain in just six hours, till 7 am, causing flooding of roads and low-lying areas.

Local train services on Central Railway lines have been severely affected due to water accumulation on the tracks, while out-of-station trains are running late.

In Mantralaya, Minister of State for Relief, Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Anil Patil was also present.

After attending the meeting at Mantralaya, Shinde went to the control room of the disaster department at the municipal headquarters and reviewed the situation.

He was accompanied by Mumbai and suburban ministers Deepak Kesarkar and Mangal Prabhat Lodha respectively, their cabinet colleague Girish Mahajan, state chief secretary Sujata Saunik, municipal commissioner Bhushan Gagrani and senior IAS officer IS Chahal.

The Chief Minister was briefed about the situation by the municipal authorities.

In view of the heavy rains and the high tide warning, the municipal body has appealed to citizens not to believe in rumours and to dial its control numbers for emergency assistance.

The BMC’s disaster management control room was monitoring all events and all senior officials and staff of civic departments were on the ground, the civic body said.

During the 24 hours ending 8 am on Monday, the island city recorded an average of 115.63 mm rainfall, while eastern and western parts of Mumbai received 168.68 mm and 165.93 mm rain respectively, an official said.

In eastern Mumbai, Govandi recorded the highest rainfall of 315.6 mm, followed by 314.5 mm in Powai, while in western regions, Malpa Dongri in Andheri received the highest rainfall of 292.2 mm, followed by 278.2 mm in Chakala.

In the island city, Pratiksha Nagar received 220.2 mm of rainfall, followed by 185.8 mm in Sewri Koliwada.