The first monsoon showers on Sunday brought some respite to the city from the heat but also probably gave Mumbaikars a taste of the transport woes to come.
Trains were running slow, their frequency affected not just by the rain but also the megablocks on the Central and Harbour lines. Road traffic too was affected at some places in the suburbs by several traffic snarls.
A motorist, Ravi Thadani, said, “On Sunday, I expected travel to be smooth. However, a lot of potholes slowed down traffic.” He said there were more private vehicles on the roads as people preferred travelling in their cars than depend on public transport. Besides autos and taxis were few on the roads, the frequency of BEST buses reduced in...
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areas like Parel and Dadar.
A traffic police official said, “There was a traffic jam at Suman Nagar (near Kurla) and police are regulating traffic flow. But there has been no water-logging in any area.”
Trains on Central Railway were 20-30 minutes behind schedule. The day began with a major rail block between Kalyan and Ambernath on both the Up and Down lines from 10.20am to 1.50pm to launch girders between Kalyan and Vithalwadi. All Down suburban services for Ambarnath/Badlapur from 9.01am to 12.31pm and Up services from 10.16am to 1.31pm were suspended. Some Express trains were diverted via Diva.
Heavy rains after 11am also slowed down trains, sources said. CR carried out another block on the Down fast line between Matunga and Mulund stations for five hours. Railway blocks were simultaneously carried out on Up Harbour line between Kurla and CST and the Up and Down lines between Mahim and Wadala till 4pm. The Andheri-CST services were suspended during this period. Harbour trains were diverted on the Main line, where trains were already slow in the afternoon.