Four people died and at least 14 flights were diverted after heavy rainfall battered Mumbai. In a span of just five hours, the metropolitan city witnessed over 200 mm of rain which led to widespread waterlogging, traffic chaos and complete disruptions of the Central Railway. However, the train services resumed on Thursday morning.
Amid the chaos, 14 incoming flights at the Mumbai Airport were diverted to different airports on Wednesday due to heavy rains. Out of the 14 flights, nine were of IndiGo alone. The airport authorities noted that the planes were not given clearance to land in the city due to the harsh weather.
Of the remaining flights which were instructed by the ATC to divert to other airports, two were of Vistara and one each was of Air India, Akasa and Gulf Air. Seven flights were instructed to land in Hyderabad, four at Ahmedabad, two landed at the Mopa Airport in Goa and one made a touchdown in Udaipur.
4 dead due to the rains
Out of the four fatalities, a 45-year-old woman drowned in a nullah overflowing due to heavy rains in suburban Andheri on Wednesday. The police stated that the incident took place at 9:20 am near gate no. 8 of MIDC, Andheri East.
The authorities identified the woman as Vimal Anil Gaikwad. Local police and the fire brigade were alerted and they took the woman to the Cooper Hospital where she was declared dead. The city was under red alert until 8:30 am on Thursday and the civic authorities in Mumbai and Thane declared a holiday for schools and colleges.
Two more people were killed after being struck by lightning in Kalyan’s Varap village. They were working in a stone quarry in the region. Another woman drowned near the Zenith waterfall in Khopoli.
Meanwhile, Pune’s Shivajinagar broke its 86-year September rainfall record, with the IMD station recording 131 mm of rain. Most of the downpour occurred within a three-hour window from 2:30 pm to 5:30 pm on Wednesday.
This is a developing story.
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4 dead, 14 flights diverted as record rains wreak havoc in Mumbai
