Rains cripple Mumbai: Navy evacuates 2,000 stranded commuters from railway station

Nearly 2,000 passengers in two trains were rescued at the Nallasopara station due to flooding of railway tracks between Nallasopara and Vasai Road stations yesterday.

The Navy was deployed to evacuate train commuters stranded at the station. The team of Navy, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the police and fire brigade personnel rescued all the 2,000 passengers of two Mumbai-bound trains -- Shatabdi Express and Vadodara Express.



Following a request from the Western Railway, the Western Naval Command deployed high-chassis vehicles that could traverse the flooded areas and reach the stranded commuters, a Defence spokesperson said this morning.

Mumbai has been experiencing heavy rains for the past 48 hours resulting in water-logging in several areas which has severely hit road and rail transport also. If the rains continue at this pace, it will surpass the highest rainfall record of 1,468.5 mm for Mumbai recorded in 2014. The average rainfall for the month of July in Mumbai is 840 mm, while the city has already received 60 per cent of its total rainfall and over 200 mm in the past couple of days.

Many low-lying areas like Kalina, Chembur and Mankhurd remained submerged in knee-deep water and rail and road traffic was heavily disrupted throughout the day.

Several train on Western and Central Railway line were cancelled, while the local train services were also stopped at several places. Flight services also encountered delays

The city is not likely to get respite from heavy rains yet as IMD has predicted heavy rain till Saturday.