Mumbai Rains: 203 flights cancelled in Mumbai due to rains, skidding of jet

Mumbai rains has brought the Maximum City to a grinding halt. The Devendra Fadnavis-led Maharashtra government declared a public holiday today with a stern warning for general public to not step out of their houses. The Indian Meteorological Department has also issued warning of heavy rains for next two days. Local trains, known as the lifeline of the Maximum City, have also been severely affected. The Central Railway has also decided to run local trains in limited corridors due to water logging in the railway tracks. According to private weather forecaster Skymet, levels of rainfall are likely to increase from the night of July 3, following a weather system forming in the Bay of Bengal that is moving towards the western coast of the country.

Here are 10 latest Mumbai rains updates:

1: From Kurla to Hindmata, several areas have reported severe waterlogging. A video tweeted by news agency ANI showed water entering the Sakinaka Police Station. The Mumbai Police and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) workers were seen help riders cross waterlogged roads in King's Circle area of Mumbai. The overnight downpour resulted in wall collapse in Malad, Kalyan and neighbouring Pune. As many as 22 people have been killed in the separate incidents. Fadnavis government has issued relief of Rs 6 Lakh for victims. On Pune wall collapse, Fadnavis told the state Assembly that, “In the incident 6 died and 4 were injured. They're from Jharkhand & MP. State govt will give all required assistance. We've ordered a probe in this matter. This wall was old and collapsed as a tree fell on it.”

2: Mumbai Municipal Commissioner Praveen Pardeshi said, “In June, average rainfall was 515 mm. We have got 540 mm in just two days. This is the highest in a decade.” Pardeshi blamed climate change and geographic phenomena for heavy rains in a short period of time and subsequent flooding in the city which saw water-logging in several areas in the last few days.

3: Opposition parties on Tuesday lashed out at the ruling Shiv Sena and BJP for the loss of lives due to wall collapse incidents in Mumbai and Pune and attributed them to "corruption". Maharashtra Congress chief Ashok Chavan alleged that Bandra's Kala Nagar, where Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray resides, faced water-logging and demanded the saffron party, which heads the BMC, apologise to citizens for "submerging" the city. Taking a dig at Thackeray, Chavan said Mumbai would not have flooded had the Shiv Sena chief overseen pre-monsoon drainage cleaning works instead of "taking out party MPs" to temples post Lok Sabha elections.

4: The Shiv Sena, which has been ruling the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) for over two decades, was trolled on social media as the city came to a standstill after incessant rains, which claimed several lives in a wall collapse Tuesday. As Mumbai almost came to a halt after overnight rains, netizens and Mumbaikars took a dig at the Shiv Sena for the plight of their beloved city. A meme was doing rounds on social media messaging platform WhatsApp where a picture of Venice in Italy was juxtaposed with a waterlogged street in Parel in Central Mumbai.

5: Flight services at the city airport were severely affected Tuesday with airlines cancelling 203 serivces due to incessant rains and suspension of operations from the main runway due to the skidding of an aircraft Monday night, airport officials said. Besides, another 350-odd flights -both arriving and departing - were delayed between 28-51 minutes (till 7 pm), as per the live flight tracking website Flightradar24.

6: Not just roads and railways, air traffic has also been affected in and around Mumbai. Mumbai Airport officials said that around 54 flights have been diverted today. Flyers are advised to check the status of their flights also. Latest report suggests that the main runway at the Mumbai Airport has been shut down. A SpiceJet flight from Jaipur skid and overshot the main runway while landing at the Mumbai airport amidst heavy rains on Monday, although none of the passengers were hurt in the incident, said a source privy to the matter. 16 flights were delayed and 4 flights cancelled so far at Delhi airport, due to Mumbai Rains.

7: The incident happened on Monday around 11.45 pm when the SpiceJet flight SG6237 flying from Jaipur to Mumbai skid and overshot the main runway, the source said.

8: Passengers of three suburban trains who got stuck on flooded tracks were evacuated by Railway Protection Force (RPF) staff, Central Railway tweeted. Stranded passengers at Thane railway station are being served with refreshments by Railway Protection Force (RPF), after several suburban train movements got suspended today due to heavy rains.

9: Film and TV shoots largely remained unaffected from the heavy rains which lashed the metropolis on Tuesday, with some TV shows being called off. "Mostly TV shoots which happen beyond Dahisar have been badly hit. There are some 20-30 shows which are shot there but that might not happen today. Even the government has given a directive of staying indoors today so naturally shoots have been halted,"President ofIndian Film & Television Directors' Association (IFTDA), Ashoke Pandit, told PTI.

10: A citizen who uses the Western Express Highway regularly said a number of potholes on the road posed problems for commuters, adding that it exposed the poor quality of repair works done by the civic body.