Mumbai rain mayhem: Govt offices shut; pvt firms appealed to allow work from home

Mumbai | All government and semi-government offices in Mumbai will remain closed on Tuesday in view of the extremely heavy rainfall warning issued by the weather department, the city civic body said.

It also appealed to all private establishments across Mumbai to allow their employees to work from home and avoid unnecessary travel.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), in a statement on Tuesday morning, announced the closure of all government and semi-government offices as a precautionary measure, in view of the continuous heavy rains in the city and suburbs and the 'red alert' issued by the IMD.

The statement said the decision applies to all BMC offices and state-run establishments, excluding essential services.

"Considering the red alert for very heavy rainfall in Mumbai city and suburbs, all government, semi-government, and BMC offices (excluding essential services) will remain closed today," the BMC said.

In the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Tuesday, the island city, eastern and western suburbs recorded an average rainfall of 186.43 mm, 208.78 mm and 238.19 mm, respectively, an official said.

In the forecast for Tuesday, India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted "very heavy to extremely heavy" rainfall in the city and suburbs of Mumbai with occasional gusty winds reaching 45-55 kmph.

Rainfall during the early morning hours and late evening could lead to traffic snarls as there was 3.75 metre high tide at 9.16 am and of 3.14 metres to occur at 8.53 pm.

People complained of waterlogging on railway tracks in low-lying areas of Dadar, Matunga, Parel and Sion.

The railway authorities, however, claimed the water was below the track level and hence train movement was unaffected though the services were delayed.

Waterlogging was also reported at Hindmata, Andheri Subway and in some parts of the Eastern Express Highway, Mumbai-Gujarat highway and the Eastern Freeway.

To make the situation worse, there was an early morning technical snag in the signalling system between Ambivali and Shahad stations on the Mumbai suburban network.

Local trains on the Central Railway's main line were running late by 10 minutes and on the harbour line trains by 5 minutes around 8 am, as per a CR spokesperson.

A Western Railway spokesperson said their suburban services were running a little late due to poor visibility.