Mumbai limps back to life as rain relents

Life was limping back to normal here today as there was no overnight rain after heavy downpour the whole of yesterday even as weathermen forecast more rains.

Train services, which were suspended due to waterlogging of tracks, had been restored on the central railway but trains were running late.

Air services that were suspended during day time yesterday were also restored.

Flood waters receded in most parts of the city and roads cleared for smooth traffic movement.

At least five persons were killed yesterday three of whom were washed away in the floods. Asia's largest slums in Dharavi here were submerged while there were reports of incidents of wall collapses.

Updated on June 30, 2007 at 1920 hrs: Relentless downpour across the metropolis severely affected normal life today with authorities  carrying out rescue work in certain areas where very high rainfall was recorded.

In neghbouring Thane, which also had more than its fair share of rain, two persons were electrocuted in a village last night, the district magistrate said.

Incidents of flooding were reported in 17 areas, mostly in central region of Mumbai and suburbs, where road traffic had to be diverted.

Traffic on the roads was sparse with most office-goers preferring to stay at home and also with public transports like taxis and autorickshaws refusing to ply on waterlogged streets.

Rail services, including suburban routes, were badly affected with the services of the Central Railways (CR) suspended since morning. A CR spokesman said suburban services had been suspended in the morning due to waterlogging, but trains had begun to ply between some stations.

"Some trains between Thane and Kalyan and Vashi and Panvel on the Harbour line have begun since afternoon but we will have to see when full services can resume," he said.

A few of the inter-city trains had been cancelled and most outstation trains delayed, he said.

Suburban trains on the Western Railways (WR) were delayed by upto an hour due to flooding at multiple stations. Outstation WR trains were terminated at the northwest suburb of Andheri instead of Mumbai Central terminus.

A building in suburban Malad, deemed dangerous by civic authorities earlier, collapsed soon after 20 families and six shopkeepers, who had refused to vacate the structure, were forcibly evicted.

Flights resume after hour-long suspension

All domestic and international flights from the city, which were suspended today following poor visibility in the view of incessant rains, have resumed.

"The flights were suspended at around 11.45 am and resumed around 1 pm with improvement in visibility," an airport spokesperson said here.

However, the flights are delayed upto 30 minutes, he said.

Meanwhile, taxi drivers and passengers complained of waterlogging in the airport's parking area.