Mumbai: Heavy rain lashes the city again, two dead in tree falls

With heavy rain lashing the city chaos ensued once again Two people lost their lives in tree and branch collapses at Malad and Goregaon Many lowlying areas were waterlogged and BEST buses had to shift their routes Traffic on crucial road links slowed down But as the rain receded in the evening life returned to normal in many placesAs the rain wreaked havoc across the city and suburbs one person died in Malad West after a peepal tree collapsed at midnight Kiran Dighavkar assistant commissioner of P North ward said the incident occurred in Manibhai Chawl in Mamlatdar Wadi The tree was on private premises Kaushal Doshi 38 was seriously injured and shifted to Dr Ambedkar hospital in Kandivli West where he was declared brought deadThe flooded SV Road at Borivli PicNimesh DaveDoshi went to the public toilet at midnight and didnrsquot return In the morning members of his family started looking for him and found him under the tree On Wednesday at around 330 pm a tree branch fell on a house in old BMC colony at Mithanagar near Datta Mandir Goregaon West injuring one person Premlal Nirmal 30 was declared brought dead by the doctors at a nearby hospitalThe BMC received 48 complaints of treesbig branches falling on Tuesday and Wednesday Complaints of stones and soil falling were received from two spots in the eastern suburbs As a safety measure 20 to 25 houses were evacuated at Surya Nagar Vikhroli WestAndheri subway closedThe subway at Andheri was closed for traffic around 1 pm on Wednesday after it was submerged in rain water Though the BMC has installed a high capacity pumping system at the subway it proved insufficient during heavy rain The subway was opened again in another hourWestern suburbs waterloggedThe heavy rainfall in Mumbai and adjoining areas also led to waterlogging in several parts of the city on Wednesday due to which some BEST buses were diverted These included routes in Borivli and Dahisar A BMC official said ldquoThe Ketaki Pada road Shakti Nagar Dahisar East and Borivli East station roads faced waterlogging issues due to which BEST bus routes were diverted via Konkani pada bridge Aashish Complex and Kasturba Road no 7 respectivelyrdquo BEST buses on routes in Thane were also diverted Due to waterlogging at Vandana Talkies Thane buses on routes 499 and 694 were diverted via Ram Maruti road and Marathon Chowk Petrol pumpOne person died after a tree collapsed at Manibhai Chawl in Mamlatdar Wadi MaladCentral and Western Railway services also slowed through the day but ran without disruption Motorists and commuters in the western suburbs faced a lot of inconvenience and traffic jams were seen at several places including on the arterial Western Express Highway SV Road and Linking Road Waterlogging was also witnessed near Borivli stationWall collapse on carsA wall collapsed at a posh colony in Navi Mumbais NRI Complex in Seawoods damaging three luxury cars were damagedCivic chiefs visitsAfter the heavy rain on Thursday morning civic chief I S Chahal visited Worli BKC Mithi River Vakola Mini pumping station Dharavi T Junction Hindmata and Gandhi Market along with Additional Municipal Commissioner P Velrasu Deputy Municipal Commissioner Ulhas Mahale and other officialsldquoOn the first day the western suburbs received 140 mm of rain in 4 to 5 hours and eastern suburbs received 120 mm of rain During that time there was high tide Under the circumstances we cant avoid waterlogging But we will dewater on a war footingrdquo said Chahal He also ordered officials to visit lowlying areas and subways to make sure all the machinery pumps was workingHe added ldquoWe have set up dewatering pumps at 480 spots and their responsibility has been given to the engineers They will ensure that the pumps continue to function during floodingrdquo Chahal claimed that this year the BMC has removed more filth from nullahs than before He also claimed to have removed floating materials at least thrice from nullahsHe said there were refrigerators found in the Mogra nullah ldquoPeople throw garbage in the drains especially in slum areas I request the citizens with folded hands not to throw trash in the nullahs said Chahal There is a possibility of heavy to heavy rain in Mumbai for the next 45 days Chahal ordered all deputy municipal commissioners assistant municipal commissioners and all officials concerned to visit waterloggingprone spots and lowlying areas He also asked them to keep a close watch on all the subways48No of complaints of treesbranches falling on Tuesday