Heavy rain stalls Mahalaxmi Express in Thane; over 1,000 stranded passengers rescued : The Tribune India

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Heavy rain stalls Mahalaxmi Express in Thane; over 1,000 stranded passengers rescued

MUMBAI: Naval personnel, including a squad of divers, were hurriedly assembled to rescue more than a thousand passengers of the Mahalaxmi Express — plying from Mumbai to Kolhapur — after it was stuck in the swirling waters of Ulhas river on the outskirts of the city.



Shiv Kumar
Tribune News Service
Mumbai, July 27

Naval personnel, including a squad of divers, were hurriedly assembled to rescue more than a thousand passengers of the Mahalaxmi Express — plying from Mumbai to Kolhapur — after it was stuck in the swirling waters of Ulhas river on the outskirts of the city.

All the 1,050 passengers were rescued by Saturday afternoon.

According to sources at the Western Naval command, the Central Railway and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the Mahalaxmi Express was stranded at Chamtoli near Badlapur, 60 km from Mumbai shortly after midnight on Saturday. 

With Ulhas river in spate, the train came to a halt as the tracks went under water. A crisis situation soon developed by daybreak as the water rose 5-ft.

“There was concern that panic-stricken passenger would get off the stranded train and walk on the flooded tracks,” Deputy Collector of Thane district Shivaji Patil told reporters. The local administration asked people not get off the train and stay put while rescue attempts were being organised. 

While teams from the NDRF were pressed in by morning, the Chief Minister’s office got in touch with officials of the Defence Ministry in New Delhi and sought help from the Indian Navy.

By late morning, two navy helicopters were ready to lift people from the train. Eight inflatable boats were released by as many naval rescue teams which included three sets of divers. Passengers were then rescued in several groups. “We rescued all the 1,050 passengers by late afternoon,” a Central Railway spokesman said.

Among those who were rescued included nine pregnant women and a one-month old baby girl.

Passengers on board the train said they had run out of water by

morning. However, the district administration arranged to deliver biscuit packets and water to passengers while they were awaiting rescue.

Most of the passengers were brought to Kalyan by Saturday evening.

Later in the day, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that a special train will 19 coaches will depart from Kalyan to Kolhapur with the passengers.

The heavy rain also resulted in 11 flights being cancelled at Mumbai airport and nine others being diverted, officials said.

Meanwhile, Indian Air Force personnel air-lifted people stuck in various areas in and around Thane district due to heavy rain, officials said.

 

There is no report of any casualty due to the rains in the district, he said.

Maharashtra government spokesperson Brajesh Singh said eight NDRF boats have been deployed.

Houses in several villages, including Varap, Kamba, Mharal on the Kalyan Murbad Road near Kalyan are submerged and the district administration has rushed one NDRF team for rescue operation, an official said.

“The rescue work was under way and at least 100 people have been shifted to safer places from low-lying areas,” he added.

While Thane city recorded 160 mm rainfall till 8 am Saturday, Murbad recorded 332 mm, while Kalyan, Ulhasnagar and Amberanth recorded over 200 mm of rainfall each, an official release from the district collectorate said.

Meanwhile, in Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) Colaba weather station recorded 90 mm rainfall, while the Santacruz observatory registered 219 mm rainfall in the 24 hours till 8 am on Saturday.

In a tweet, Deputy Director General of the IMD (Mumbai), K S Hosalikar, said that heavy rain will continue in Mumbai suburbs.

According to civic officials, incessant rains since Friday night resulted in waterlogging in several parts of Mumbai and affected traffic in suburbs such as Juhu Tara Road, Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road, several stretches of SV Road and on the parts of Western Express Highway.                       

School Education Minister Ashish Shelar tweeted, “Reviewed heavy rainfall situation at all parts of state, considering local rainfall situation concerned Headmaster/principal can take decision for declaring holiday at their level for Saturday.”      

The downpours affected air services also leading to cancellation of 11 flights and diversion of nine incoming aircraft to nearby airports on Saturday, an official said.

The operations at the city airport, however, are now normal, the official said.

The cancelled flights include seven departures and four arrivals.

“As many as 11 flights of various airlines are cancelled for today. These include seven departures and four arrivals. In addition to this, nine flights which were scheduled to arrive in Mumbai have been diverted to other nearby airports due to rains and other issues,” the official said.

The Central Railway said that its suburban services between Kalyan and CSMT and also on the Harbour line are not affected much.

CR chief spokesperson Sunil Udasi said that heavy rainfall and overflowing Ulhas river resulted in waterlogging at Ambernath, due to which a few trains have been short- terminated or cancelled.

“11028 Chennai-Mumbai Mail arriving CSMT and 11020 Bhubaneshwar-Mumbai Konark Express have been diverted while 22149 Ernakulam-Pune has been short terminated at Panvel,” he said in a statement.

The BMC has warned people about possible thunderstorms accompanied by lightning during the day. PTI

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