That sinking feeling in Mumbai: Vasai, Virar and Palghar cut off

In one of the worst breakdowns the city has seen in the past monsoons, Vasai, Virar and Palghar were cut off from Mumbai by the heavy rains that lashed the region on Tuesday. Road and rail connectivity was cut off by waterlogging, and Vasai and Virar also lost electricity.

Meanwhile, the state government announced in the Assembly that the rains have claimed 62 persons in the state since June, and the Supreme Court lashed out at the government for not looking into the issue of solid waste management which it believed was one of the causes of the current waterlogging crisis.

"You see," said a bench of Justices M B Lokur and Deepak Gupta, "Delhi is getting buried under mountain loads of garbage and Mumbai is sinking. But yet, the government does not do anything. When the courts intervene, we are attacked for judicial activism."

In the state assembly, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured the House that all systems had been alerted and the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force), Coast Guards as well as the Navy had been alerted for rescue and relief operations. A good 200 persons were rescued out of 300 stranded in various parts of Vasai and waterlogging at 66 places was eased out by deploying 152 pumps.

Meanwhile, thousands of passengers were stuck inside long-distance trains and those waiting at stations. The Western Railway (WR) collapsed after tracks were submerged between the Dahanu-Palghar-Virar-Vasai belt which saw over 300 mm of rainfall in 12 hours. WR cancelled 35 long-distance trains and 170 local trains, while CR cancelled five long-distance ones and nearly 150 locals. Some Mumbai-bound trains were terminated at Vapi, Dahanu, Boisar and Virar.

The Bhayandar-Virar belt was the worst affected as water from the Vasai creek entered the mainland and flooded roads and rail tracks. "Nallasopara station had become a catchment area with over 525 mm of water," said a senior WR official.

The situation began deteriorating 5 am onwards, when the rains caught force in Palghar district. "I reached Mumbai Central station from Surat at around 7.30 am. The rains were in full force by then and trains were crawling. After that, I don't remember any trains arriving," said A Patil, a resident of Surat.

WR authorities rescued people from their operation centre in Mumbai Central and distributed over 16,300 food packets to passengers stranded inside 23 trains between Vasai and Surat.

"Local trains were running late despite waterlogging," said Sunil Udasi, CR's general manager. Passengers complained that the trains were delayed by 30-45 minutes and announcements were sparse. Harbour line experienced a rail fracture between Govandi-Mankhurd between 6.20pm and 7pm.

Meanwhile, the apex court slapped fine of Rs 2 lakh each on 10 states and two union territories for not filing affidavits on their policies for solid waste management strategy.