Rains lash Mumbai and suburbs; 1 person killed in tree fall incident

Mumbai: A 22-year-old person was killed and another one injured on Thursday after a tree fell on their hut in Mumbai as moderate to heavy rains lashed the city and its suburbs in the last 24 hours, officials said.

This is the third death here in two days in tree fall incidents amid rains.

On Wednesday, two persons were killed in separate tree fall incidents in Mumbai's western suburbs.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday issued an `orange alert', forecasting heavy to very heavy rains on Thursday in six Maharashtra districts - Palghar, Raigad, Thane, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Nashik.

The IMD issued a 'yellow alert' for Mumbai, predicting relatively less intense showers on Thursday.

According to civic officials, no major water-logging was reported since early Thursday morning in the city and suburbs as the rain intensity reduced after an overnight heavy spell.

Bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were running without any diversion in the morning, they said.

Suburban services on the Central Railway and Western Railway were normal though the trains were running a few minutes late, the officials said.

At around 2.30 am on Thursday, a huge banyan tree got uprooted at the Indu Oil Mill compound in Byculla area and fell on a hut, trapping a few persons inside, an official from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

After getting a call, fire brigade personnel reached the spot, cut the tree branches and brought out two injured persons from the hut.

Both of them were rushed to the nearby JJ Hospital where doctors declared one of them, Rehman Khan (22), as "brought dead", the official said.

The condition of the other person, Rizwan Khan (20), is "stable" and he is undergoing treatment, he said.

Moderate to heavy rains lashed parts of Mumbai and its adjoining areas in the last 24 hours.

A civic official said the IMD has predicted "moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs with very heavy rainfall likely at isolated places" in the next 24 hours.

In the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday, Colaba in south Mumbai received 148 mm rainfall, while Santacruz in western suburbs recorded 121.6 mm rainfall, according to the IMD, Mumbai.

As per the BMC, the island city, eastern and western suburbs received an average 93 mm, 127 mm and 123 mm rainfall, respectively, in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Thursday.

The IMD Mumbai measures rainfall at its observatories located in Colaba and Santacruz, while the civic body has its own automatic rain gauges installed at several locations in the city and suburbs.

An IMD official here said seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai and neighbouring areas received "extremely heavy" rainfall in the past 24 hours.

Four of these lakes, Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Tansa and Bhatsa, located in neighbouring Thane district, recorded 144 mm, 137 mm, 109 mm and 137 mm rainfall, respectively.

Vihar and Tulsi lakes in Mumbai received 159 mm and 235 mm rainfall, respectively, while the Upper Vaitarna lake in Nashik district recorded 122 mm downpour, the official said.