The first heavy rainfall in the city on Saturday nearly paralysed all services as waterlogging caused traffic snarls and delayed trains and flights. Although figures released by the weather department show the city received above average rainfall, the BMC’s claims of being “prepared” for the monsoons turned out to be pretty much hollow promises. Almost all low-lying areas were submerged, with flooding of up to three feet in chronic waterlogging areas like Hindmata, Parel, Kalachowkie and Worli in the city, Bandra, Milan Subway, Andheri subway, Andheri highway, Saki Naka, Jogeshwari, Goregaon, Borivali and Dahisar in the western suburbs and Kurla, LBS Road, Vidyavihar, Ghatkopar and Vikhroli in the central suburbs. Of the 81 complaints received at the civic headquarters, 52 were from the western suburbs, while 17 and 12 were from the island city and eastern suburbs.
On the Central Railway, Chunabhatti, Sion, Kurla and Vidyavihar station areas were flooded, with trains running at least 45 minutes late. As many as 100 services were cancelled on the mainline (CST-Kalyan) and 25 on the Harbour line. “The water level was one-and-a-half feet on the tracks at certain locations,” said V.A. Malegaonkar, chief public relations officer, CR.