Mumbai’s Mithi River crosses danger mark; beaches closed amid heavy rain, high tide

Mumbai: Mithi River, one of the most important rivers flowing through Mumbai, has crossed the danger level following incessant rain lashing the city on Tuesday.

The river, which has been hogging the headlines for alleged corruption in its cleaning, reached 4.07 metres (danger mark 4 metres). Due to this, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) and police have issued an alert to the citizens in the surrounding settlements to remain vigilant, while residents of Bhandup and Vikhroli have been moved to safer locations in light of the potential for landslides.

Considering the increasing intensity of rain, the beaches in Mumbai have been closed to the general public and tourists as they have been prohibited from visiting those beaches. All places in Mumbai, like Juhu Beach, Versova Beach, Aksa Beach, and Gorai Beach, have been evacuated. People have been advised to be alert on beaches like Marine Drive, Worli Sea Face, Bandra Carter Road, and Madh Island. BMC and police have taken due precautionary measures due to the high tides and heavy rain.

The suburban services on Central Railway have been running behind schedule by 15 to 20 minutes due to waterlogging on the railway tracks between Ghatkopar, Vidyavihar, Kurla, Sion and Matunga stations of Central Railway. Local trains are running 20 to 25 minutes late due to waterlogging between Kurla, Tilak Nagar, and Govandi stations on the Harbour Line. Local trains on the Western Railway line are running at a snail’s pace due to waterlogging at Mahim and Matunga Road.

The Central Railway chief public relations officer Dr Swapnil Dhanraj Nila said that as per the information available till now, only around 3-4 stations on harbour line Kurla, Chembur, Tilaknagar are having some issues of waterlogging and the points on these stations have been clamped and the movement of trains is delayed on harbour line by approximately 10-15 minutes.

“On the main line, the delay is around 8-10 minutes, but it is primarily because of reduced speed on account of reduced visibility due to the heavy rains which are reported at various locations from Karjat to Kalyan, Kasara to Kalyan, as well as Kalyan to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus,” he added.

He further stated, “During evening peak time, when the high tide time also coincides, around 6.30 p.m., additional manpower, specifically engineering, have been deployed at various locations previously prone to waterlogging, and they have been equipped with an adequate amount of water removing materials, and the motors of high capacity pumps have been provided at multiple locations.” The CR administration has clarified that the rail traffic will be normal after the water level recedes.

The Western Railway in its post on X said, “We won’t stop, we won’t pause…The speed of local trains continues…In recent days, Mumbai has been affected by continuous rain. However, WR’s trains, as always, are taking people to their destinations. Even in every situation, our controllers are making the right decisions to ensure that Mumbai locals don’t stop, always keep running in every situation.”

Long queues of vehicles have formed on Eastern Express Highway, Eastern Freeway and Western Express Highway.

Meanwhile, Mumbai suburban district co-guardian Minister Mangal Prabhat Lodha, Mumbai Police Commissioner Deven Bharti and BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani jointly visited the BMC’s Disaster Management Control Room and monitored the situation arising due to heavy rain and waterlogging.

–IANS