Heavy rains lash Mumbai; public transport services experience delays
Mumbai (PTI): Incessant rains with intermittent spells of moderate to heavy showers since Friday morning have slowed down public transport services and traffic in Mumbai.
Several parts of the country’s financial capital received more than 15 mm of rainfall between 7 am and 8 am. Due to heavy rains, low-lying areas like Sion saw waterlogging prompting the authorities to divert road traffic.
In the Western suburbs, the Andheri subway between Andheri and Jogeshwari railway stations was also waterlogged.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai issued a “Nowcast” warning at 8 am, predicting heavy “intense spells of rain very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during next 3-4 hours”.
The weatherman has predicted “moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs” with the possibility of “very heavy rainfall at isolated places” for the next 24 hours for the Maharashtra capital.
A civic official said there will be a high tide of 3.87 metres in the Arabian Sea at 4.09 pm. Being a saucer-shaped city, high tides coupled with heavy rains can trigger flooding as water doesn't get discharged into the sea at that time.
In the 24 hours that ended at 8 am on Friday, Mumbai’s island city recorded an average 93.16 mm of rainfall. The figure was 66.03 mm and 78.93 mm for eastern Mumbai and western Mumbai, respectively, a civic official said.
A spokesperson from Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) said that the public bus service body has diverted three bus routes due to waterlogging at Sion since 7.50 am.
Western Railway and Central Railway, which operate local trains in Mumbai, claimed on X that their suburban services were “running”. However, commuters complained of some delays, though there was no waterlogging on the tracks.
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Karnataka Lokayukta to register case, probe Bowring wall collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil on Thursday took serious note of the compound wall collapse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in the city that killed seven people, and announced registration of a case on its own while warning of action against officials found responsible.
The Lokayukta, who visited the site and conducted an inspection, expressed strong displeasure over the incident and questioned the inaction of authorities, even as police and emergency teams had earlier rushed to the spot to rescue victims trapped under the debris following heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
“I will now register a suo motu case. This is not just about this one incident — such incidents must not occur anywhere in the state or the city in the future,” Justice Patil told reporters.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed as rain-battered victims had taken shelter near it, according to police. The victims included people from Kerala who were in the city on a study tour.
Calling for systemic accountability, the Lokayukta said, “Dilapidated buildings and weakened compound walls, especially in areas with public access, must first be identified. They must either be repaired, demolished, or rebuilt.”
He added that responsibility would be fixed on officials of the BBMP and the concerned departments.
Justice Patil said that hearings would be conducted and preventive action initiated, while also probing those responsible for it, how the incident could have been prevented, and why it was not prevented.
A Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team and a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the site, while police cordoned off Kovil Street to facilitate the probe.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the government had initiated measures following the rain-related incidents and stressed preparedness.
“Since last night we have initiated measures regarding the rains. When it rains heavily, we must be prepared, and we are working towards that,” he told reporters here.
On the wall collapse, Shivakumar said, “I will not directly blame any officials. It was an old wall, and trees had grown alongside it. Due to that pressure, it collapsed.”
The Deputy CM said instructions had been issued to identify such vulnerable structures and clear areas around them, including relocating street vendors.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said a technical assessment had been ordered.
“This is a very serious matter. Innocent people have been affected. We are issuing directions to the engineers to find out why this compound wall collapsed and to assess its structural strength,” he told reporters after inspecting the spot.
The Minister noted that the wall was ‘very old’ and required thorough examination to prevent recurrence.
Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Karnataka government to take precautions to ensure that incidents like the collapse of the Bengaluru government hospital compound wall, which caused loss of life, should not repeat.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said the collapse raised questions about construction and maintenance practices.
“If a wall collapses within 25 years of its construction, it needs to be examined -- whether there was any technical issue, or if anything was altered inside, weakening it. All this can only come out through a technical investigation,” he said.
The Congress MLA also called for wider structural audits across the city, stating that all such structures, whether private or government, must be audited.
He urged citizens to support victims, saying it was a collective responsibility in times of crisis.
