Heavy rain snarls up traffic, shuts schools in Mumbai and nearby regions

MUMBAI – Torrential rain has lashed India’s financial capital Mumbai, triggering floods, killing at least four people, paralysing the city and forcing schools to close on Sept 26, before easing slightly in the afternoon.

Some parts of Mumbai recorded around 275mm of rain on the evening of Sept 25, which crippled road traffic and delayed the trains millions of city residents use every day.

Four people died from rain-related incidents, officials said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi cancelled a trip to the city of Pune, nearly 200km from Mumbai, after the authorities declared a red alert due to the rain.

With more rain expected in Mumbai, the authorities issued a citywide red alert and urged residents to stay home. Schools and colleges were closed and fishermen were asked to remain onshore until Sept 27.

Drone footage posted on social media showed snarled highways clogged with cars – some with their drivers still inside and others abandoned by frustrated motorists. Hundreds of thousands of commuters spent hours on the road.

India’s monsoon rains started retreating from the north-west of the country earlier this week, nearly a week later than normal, the state-run India Meteorological Department said in a statement.

The monsoon generally begins in June and starts to retreat by Sept 17, but the rain continued beyond that period in 2024, which has helped replenish reservoirs but damaged the crop harvest in some states.

Heavy rain was also forecast for some parts of the southern state of Telangana on Sept 26, the weather office said.

In neighbouring Bangladesh, rain brought relief after a week of intense heat, but it also flooded streets, worsening the already bad traffic in the capital Dhaka and other parts of the country. REUTERS