Mumbai rain: Five killed, seven reported missing after being washed away in floodwaters, say police

At least five people died after torrential rain lashed Mumbai on Tuesday. Three, including two children, died after a building collapsed in the city, and two others died in separate incidents, NDTV reported. The police on Wednesday said that seven people have been reported missing after being washed away in floodwaters.

Although the Met Department had forecast heavy showers for Wednesday, the city saw brief spells of scanty rainfall. Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had asked people to stay home as far as possible. Schools and colleges were also closed.

Local train services in Mumbai resumed late on Tuesday, but there were complaints of some were running late on Wednesday.

The BMC emergency helpline number is 1916. For traffic emergencies, call the police at 100.

Here’s how the day unfolded:

9.24 pm: Actor Aamir Khan has donated Rs 25 lakh to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund.

8.25 pm: With trains being cancelled, people queue up to cancel their tickets.

8.00 pm: At least seven people were reported missing after being swept away in the rains. Suburban rail services between Chhattrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Panvel on the Harbour Line were restored. A special suburban train left from Thane for Kasara on the Central Railway.

7.09 pm: There are reports of power outages from a few parts of the city, some as long as 16 hours. Reliance Energy said they had to cut off supply at a few places to prevent accidents.

6.21 pm: Flight operations have been affected by unavailability of crew at the Mumbai airport, according to PTI. Airlines either had to cancel or delay their flights as their staff could not reach the airport on time.

6 pm: The US Consulate in Mumbai has asked visa applicants to appear for their interviews at the given times tomorrow. The consulate will be open from 8 am.

5.12 pm: Uddhav Thackeray says the civic body will issue health guidelines as per the WHO’s specifications and “declare preventive measures for medicines to be taken to avoid epidemics”.

5.10 pm: “The mayor of Mumbai, MLAs and Shiv Sainiks tried to help a lot,” the Shiv Sena chief said. “People were given support.”

5.08 pm: On the BMC’s budget, which is the highest among the country’s civic bodies, Thackeray says, “We have utilised those crores of rupees fully, and that is why the situation was not beyond what we experienced.”

5.06 pm: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray calls the Mumbai rains and the flooding it caused “unfortunate”, but says the BMC should be “praised for its services offered yesterday”. “De-silting has happened as per norms, and it is satisfactory,” he told the media. “Mumbai faces this issue because of its geographical low-lying nature.”

5.04 pm: Dr Deepak Amrapurkar is believed to have fallen into a manhole. NDRF personnel have been deployed to look for him.

4.40 pm: The Sion Police have registered a case of accidental death.

4.29 pm: A lawyer was found dead in his car in Sion. He is believed to have suffocated in the locked vehicle, ABP news reported.

4.24 pm: Officials search for missing Dr Deepak Amrapurkar.

4 pm: Reports say that a well-known gastroenterologist of Bombay Hospital, Dr Deepak Amrapurkar, has been missing since last evening. A police officer told DNA that the 58-year-old went missing near Elphinstone Road Station, where he had asked his driver to drop him off as water-logging had brought traffic to a standstill. He has been missing since he began to walk home.

2.55 pm: It is raining heavily in Dadar and Worli again, reports News18.

2.45 pm: Some reports quote the Met department as saying the “worst is over”. The government has, however, warned of more floods in parts of 12 states.

2.40 pm: Some parts of the city have had no rain for the past couple of hours.

1.44 pm: Additional National Disaster Response Force teams from Pune have been deployed to support the three teams in Mumbai, ANI reported.

1.30 pm: Santa Cruz station in Mumbai recorded 331.4 mm rain between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm on Tuesday, reports Hindustan Times. This has almost surpassed the 24-hour August record of 346.2 mm received on August 22, 1997

1 pm: A Northern Railway representative tells ANI that 16 trains starting on August 30, 31 and September 1 have been cancelled in Maharashtra.

11.55 am: Shiv Sena terms downpour a natural calamity in an editorial column in their mouthpiece Saamna.

11.44 am: Three bodies were recovered in a Thane nullah on Wednesday, said regional disaster management officer of the civic body Santosh Kadam.

11.10 am: Light showers begin in eastern and western suburbs.

11 am: There was 171.6 mm of rain between 2.30 and 5.30 pm on Tuesday, says the IMD.

10.30 am: Five people are now dead – three in a building collapse, and two others.

10 am: Mumbai Airport officials say flights are operating normally. However, Air India spokesperson Dhananjay Kumar says, “All Flights in Mumbai delayed today since morning due to rains... Delays of around half an hour. Yesterday’s flights to Muscat AI 985 and AI 342 Singapore being operated today at 11.30 am and 2.30 pm today.”

9.15 am: Mumbai dabbawalas are not working today.

9 am: Thane station is still water-logged. Meanwhile, the IMD says there might be heavy rain in south Gujarat and its surrounding areas, while light rain is expected in places in and around Mumbai.

8.30 am: Mumbai Police say water-logging is less and that the roads are normal.

8 am: Navy personnel are distributing food to people at CSMT station.