The southwest monsoon has turned aggressive across large parts of the country, and Maharashtra is bearing the brunt of it. Heavy rain and landslides have forced authorities to shut all schools in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar today as a precaution. Gujarat and several northeastern states are also witnessing relentless downpours that have thrown normal life out of gear. The worst disruption was reported on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, where rain and landslides had halted vehicle movement altogether, though the route has since been reopened to traffic.
Landslides in the ghat section disrupt rail traffic too
The Mumbai-Pune corridor took the heaviest hit from the downpour. Landslides at multiple points along the ghat section forced authorities to temporarily shut both the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the older Mumbai-Pune national highway. Around the same time, debris falling on the railway track between Karjat and Lonavala led to several trains being cancelled, diverted or short-terminated. Thousands of daily commuters were left stranded for hours as a result.
MSRDC clears debris, restores the link road
The Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation, or MSRDC, restored vehicle movement on the Pune-Mumbai connecting link road after clearing the debris and completing a thorough safety inspection. The corporation said the stretch was reopened to traffic only once every necessary safety measure had been put in place, to rule out any further risk of accidents.
CM Fadnavis reaches control room to review the crisis
To take stock of the relentless rain and the crisis it has triggered, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis went to the state disaster management control room at the Mantralaya and held a high-level meeting with senior officials. From the control room itself, he reviewed the situation in different districts of the state and directly monitored ongoing relief and rescue operations. The continuous rain has badly disrupted normal life in several parts of the state, and road and rail traffic have also been hit extensively.
Assembly warning: winds up to 70 to 90 kmph expected
Earlier, Fadnavis had told the Maharashtra Assembly that the state was going through an unprecedented weather situation. He warned that strong winds of up to 70 to 90 kilometres per hour could blow during the day. He appealed to people to avoid non-essential travel, stay away from waterfalls and hill tourist spots, and follow every guideline issued by the administration. According to him, disaster management, relief and restoration teams have been deployed continuously across the state.
Six dead in Mankhurd, trouble in Thane and Pune too
Continuous rain has also created a serious situation across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region. Several parts of the city saw waterlogging, long traffic jams and incidents of trees falling. In the Mankhurd area, an illegal structure collapsed onto nearby slums, killing six people. An incident of a hoarding collapsing was also reported in Thane, while several parts of Pune district have witnessed flood-like conditions.
Orange alert, cloudburst fears, and an administration on high alert
The India Meteorological Department, or IMD, has issued an orange alert for Mumbai and has also flagged the possibility of cloudburst-like conditions, which is why schools in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar were kept shut today as a precaution. According to the weather department, Mumbai could receive rainfall equal to the entire average for the month of July within the next two to three days. Given this, the administration has advised people to stay alert and step out of their homes only when absolutely necessary. This spell of incessant, heavy rain has put Maharashtra's transport network, everyday life and disaster management machinery to a severe test all at once. The state government has directed officials to keep a continuous watch on the situation and speed up relief and restoration work in the affected areas.
