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- Civic officials said the city received more than 300 mm of rain in six hours.
- Heavy rains forced authorities to close schools and colleges.
- Chief Minister urges people to stay indoors amid adverse weather conditions.
Mumbai: Life in India’s megacity and Bollywood capital Mumbai has come to a standstill due to intense monsoon rains, which have drenched the metropolis with more than 300 mm of downpour in just a few hours.
The city of 12 million people received 11.8 inches of rain in the six hours ending at 7 a.m., city officials said in a statement.
More than two million people were reportedly affected in other areas due to river flooding, flights were disrupted and schools and universities in major cities were closed due to the rain.
Authorities added that schools and colleges were closed for the day as a precaution as more heavy rain and a high tide of 4.40 metres (14 feet) were forecast for the coastal city.
“Traffic on roads is heavy and rail lines are also affected,” Eknath Shinde, chief minister of the western Indian state of Maharashtra, whose capital is Mumbai, said on X, urging people to stay indoors unless necessary.
Commuters waded through knee-deep water, vehicles were partially submerged in many areas and traffic jams occurred on the city’s eastern and western expressways.
Sources said water intrusion on the tracks forced the railways to cancel some long-distance trains, while television images showed that some suburban passenger trains, an important means of daily transportation for millions of people, were suspended due to flooded lines.
Airport sources said the rain coupled with low visibility led airport authorities to suspend runway operations for more than an hour.
Tracking service Flightradar24 showed more than 300 flights were delayed and 36 were canceled.
India’s largest airline and budget carrier IndiGo said in a statement that its flights to Mumbai were affected by heavy rain, while another budget carrier, SpiceJet, also warned that bad weather could cause flight disruptions.
The incident comes days after record-breaking rains hit the Indian capital New Delhi, causing the collapse of an airport roof and killing people.
Heavy rains also triggered floods and landslides in northern and eastern India and the neighboring Himalayan nation of Nepal, killing at least 11 people.
Rivers in northeastern India’s Assam state have overflowed, affecting more than 2 million people, with authorities saying on Sunday that six rhinos have drowned in Kaziranga National Park, home to the rare one-horned rhino.
The state government said 66 people have died in flood and rain-related incidents since May.
The Uttar Pradesh government said floods also affected 31 villages in India’s most populous state, which borders Nepal.
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