Mumbai crippled, 11 flights cancelled, 9 diverted

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 after the Kolhapur-bound train got stuck in the swirling waters of the Ulhas river on the outskirts of the city.

Sources at the Western Naval command said the Central Railway and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) personnel were pressed into service after the Mahalaxmi Express, with 1,050 passengers aboard, was stranded at Chamtoli near Badlapur, 60 km from Mumbai shortly after midnight on Saturday. With the Ulhas in spate, the train got stuck as the tracks went under water. By daybreak, the water rose five feet and a crisis situation soon developed.

“There was concern that panic-stricken passengers would get off the stranded train and walk on the flooded tracks,” Thane’s Deputy Collector Shivaji Patil said. The local administration asked people not to get off the train and stay put while rescue attempts were being organised. The Chief Minister’s Office also got in touch with the Defence Ministry in New Delhi and sought help from the Navy.

By late morning, naval rescue teams comprising two naval helicopters, eight inflatable boats and three sets of divers were on the rescue mission. “We rescued all 1,050 passengers by late afternoon,” a Central Railway spokesman said.

Among those who were rescued included nine pregnant women and a month-old baby girl. Most passengers were brought to Kalyan by Saturday evening. Later, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced that a special train with 19 coaches will depart from Kalyan to Kolhapur with the passengers. 

Union Minister for Home Affairs Amit Shah and Minister of State Nityanand Rai closely monitored the situation, a central government release said. “Teams of National Disaster Response Force, Navy, Air Force, Army, Railways and state administration rescued all passengers... Kudos to the rescue teams,” Shah tweeted. 

M’rashtra on alert

• Life in several parts of Maharashtra was totally disrupted following heavy rains on Saturday. The flood situation was worse in Thane, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, with IAF personnel airlifted more than 50 persons stranded in floods 
• The Mumbai-Goa highway was shut after several small rivers in the area swelled and 11 flights were cancelled at Mumbai airport and nine others diverted. The state has put all agencies on alert after the Meteorological Dept warned of heavy rain in next 48 hours