Mumbai rains: All schools, colleges to remain closed today

PTI photo

Mumbai: All educational institutions in Mumbai will remain closed on Wednesday in the wake of warnings from the weather department that heavy rains will continue until Wednesday afternoon, the Maharashtra government announced today.

"Schools are instructed to remain closed tomorrow for safety due to mixed predictions; This holiday will be compensated in Diwali #MumbaiRains," tweeted Maharashtra Education Minister Vinod Tawde.

"Holiday for schools and colleges in Mumbai Metropolitan Region is for the safety of students due to mixed weather predictions. Tomorrow's holiday will be compensated by reducing one holiday from Diwali vacations," the Education Minister added further. 

Heavy rains coupled with thunder and lightning lashed the metropolis this afternoon, slowing down movement of vehicular traffic and suburban trains, and bringing back memories of torrential downpour late last month when the financial capital came to a standstill. 

Several parts of the city and its suburbs, including South Mumbai, Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri and Bhandup, received heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunder and lightning, on Tuesday afternoon.

Staff at Mumbai International Airport, India`s second busiest, diverted four flights and shut down operations for about half an hour as the downpour cut visibility, a spokeswoman said.
Water flooded train tracks, delaying services along the heavily used lines, a rail official said.

Meanwhile, five fishing boats sunk in the Arabian Sea near Harnai Anjarle coast in the district this morning, police said.

Of the total 29 fishermen on these boats, 26 swam to safety while three are still untraceable, they said.

"It has been raining heavily since yesterday in the district. Despite the heavy rains, these five boats ventured into the sea for fishing and sunk after travelling a distance," police said.

The fishermen on these boats jumped into the water and 26 of them swam to the shore.

A report has been lodged with Dapoli police station, they said, adding that search operations are on to trace the missing fishermen. 

(With Agency inputs)