Mumbai: Heavy rain accompanied by thunderstorms returned to Mumbai on Wednesday morning, disrupting local train services, inconveniencing commuters and forcing the diversion of several flights.
Long-distance train services to Gujarat remained disrupted due to waterlogging in the Vasai-Virar section in neighbouring Palghar district and at several locations in south Gujarat. Operations on the Mumbai–Pune route were also yet to be fully restored following landslides in the Bhor Ghat section on Monday.
Videos showed long queues of passengers wading through flooded railway tracks using mobile phone flashlights even after midnight, following the suspension of suburban train services beyond Vasai Road in Palghar on Tuesday evening.
Tulsi Lake, one of the seven reservoirs supplying drinking water to Mumbai, started overflowing late Tuesday night following heavy rainfall in its catchment area, hours after the nearby Vihar Lake overflowed, civic officials said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast intermittent light to moderate rainfall across Mumbai and its suburbs during the day.
As many as nine Mumbai-bound flights were diverted to nearby airports due to inclement weather and low visibility at the Mumbai International Airport, sources said.
All the diverted flights later returned and landed safely at the Mumbai airport, they added.
Local train services, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, on both the Central Railway (CR) and Western Railway (WR) networks were running 25 to 30 minutes behind schedule, while Metro and civic bus services operated normally.
Suburban services on a section of the Central Railway network were delayed after ballast beneath the tracks was washed away between Neral and Shelu stations in neighbouring Raigad district following heavy rainfall in the early hours of Wednesday.
The ballast washout near Neral was detected at around 4 am. Both tracks were repaired immediately, and train services resumed before 6.15 am, Central Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Swapnil Nila told PTI.
Restoration work in the Bhor Ghat section between Karjat and Lonavala stations was still underway following the landslide earlier this week, he said. As a result, several long-distance trains have been diverted, cancelled or short-terminated.
Western Railway Chief Public Relations Officer Vineet Abhishek said the movement of mail and express trains remained suspended from 7.20 pm on Tuesday until 6.50 am on Wednesday due to waterlogging near a bridge close to Sachin station in the Surat area. Services resumed after the water receded.
He said 39 trains were cancelled, 21 short-terminated, and 46 rescheduled because of the disruption.
"Local trains are running between Churchgate, Virar and Dahanu with delays of 25 to 30 minutes, mainly due to speed restrictions between Vasai, Nalasopara and Virar," Abhishek said, adding that although tracks were inundated, the water level remained below the danger mark.
Western Railway had suspended suburban services beyond Vasai Road at around 4.30 pm on Tuesday after floodwaters rose above track level, prompting hundreds of stranded commuters to walk from Vasai to Virar through knee-deep water along the railway tracks.
Videos circulating on social media showed commuters protesting at Vasai Road station and travelling from Vasai to Virar in tractors after train services were suspended. PTI could not independently verify the authenticity of the videos.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the island city received an average rainfall of 61.13 mm in the 48 hours ending at 8 am on Wednesday, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 86.66 mm and 86.90 mm, respectively.
Tulsi Lake, the smallest of Mumbai's seven water supply reservoirs, began overflowing at 11.43 pm on Tuesday, nearly three hours after Vihar Lake started overflowing at 9 pm, the BMC said.
Despite the two lakes overflowing, the combined water stock in Mumbai's seven reservoirs stood at 41.43 per cent of their total live storage capacity.
Modak Sagar was 72 per cent full, Tansa nearly 69 per cent, Bhatsa 36 per cent, Middle Vaitarna 35 per cent and Upper Vaitarna 21 per cent, while Vihar and Tulsi reached full capacity after overflowing on Tuesday night.
The seven reservoirs together held 598,589 million litres of water against their total live storage capacity of 1,447,363 million litres, according to the BMC.
Located inside Sanjay Gandhi National Park, around 35 km from the BMC headquarters, Tulsi Lake has a live storage capacity of 8,046 million litres and supplies an average of 18 million litres of drinking water to Mumbai every day.
Vihar, Tulsi and Powai lakes are all located within Mumbai. Powai Lake also overflowed earlier this month, although its water is not used for drinking purposes.
Constructed in 1879 at a cost of around ₹40 lakh, Tulsi Lake has a catchment area of 6.76 sq km and a water spread area of about 1.35 sq km when full.
Last year, Tulsi Lake overflowed on August 16, while in 2024 it began overflowing on August 4, according to the civic body.
