HYDERABAD, June 24 (Bernama) — Transport disruptions were reported in Mumbai on Wednesday as India’s financial capital was lashed by heavy rain following the onset of the monsoon in the region, while parts of northeast India witnessed flash floods.
Many suburban train services, the megacity’s lifeline, were disrupted and low-lying areas were inundated.
“Heavy downpours have been ongoing in Mumbai city and its suburbs for the past few hours, with several areas recording over 300 millimetres of rainfall,” the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said on X on Wednesday morning.
The Santa Cruz area received 42 per cent of the whole season’s rainfall within a 24-hour period.
More than 7,000 municipal workers were deployed to deal with the havoc caused by the rains. Commuters were seen wading through dirty water accumulated on the roads.
Many Mumbai residents complained on social media that the city faces similar hardships every year during the monsoon season.
A man was allegedly stabbed to death on a Mumbai train by a fellow passenger following an argument over whether the coach door should be kept open or closed due to the rain, local media reported.
While the rains brought relief from the sweltering heat to the city’s 22 million residents, the amount of rainfall severely tested its infrastructure.
Videos and images posted on social media a few days ago showed hundreds of people sleeping on Mumbai’s Versova Beach due to power cuts amid intense heat.
Meanwhile, flooding was reported in parts of the states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh in the country’s northeast region, which borders China and Bangladesh.
The Assam government said in a press release that it is closely monitoring the situation following “extremely heavy rainfall” and flash floods in Arunachal Pradesh’s Lower Subansiri district, as downstream water flow will affect several districts in Assam.
There were reports of people missing after many homes were swept away by gushing waters in Arunachal Pradesh.
Incessant rains also caused damage to crops, roads and bridges in the region.
India’s monsoon situation remains uneven, with significant implications for crop sowing and agricultural output.
Hyderabad, a key business hub in southern India, has recorded a significant rainfall deficit during the current monsoon season.
— BERNAMA