Mumbai is down with heavy rains once again, this being the season’s second time that the normal routines of the financial capital of India has been disrupted.
Mumbai has borne far greater rains and is used to the heavy falls but is for the second time that rains are affecting the daily routines of the city in this year. Many flights are delayed or canceled. The Mumbai airport’s main runway has been closed until 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
A low fare carrier SpiceJet aircraft which was stuck in the mud last night due to heavy rainfall has not been towed out yet, blocking the runway. Though there are no reports of any casualties and all the 183 passengers were safe. SpiceJet’s aircraft operating flight SG 703 from Varanasi last night overshot the runway and got stuck in the muddy area on the side.
However, the secondary runway is operational but the schedules are being interrupted due to heavy rainfall, delaying the flights by at least half an hour. A spokesperson for the airport authority said that aircraft recovery kit from Air India has reached the site to pave down the way from underneath so that the stuck plane can be towed out.
Meanwhile, the ‘dabbawala’s’ who are proud of their motto of delivering on time despite any climatic conditions have also taken the day off, as the heavy showers have also affected the train routes. There are around 5000 dabbawalas in Mumbai who deliver tiffins to over 2 lakh office goers across the city.
These dabbawala’s main means of transport for the delivery is through the local trains. The three railway lines Western, Central and Harbour that link 70 stations are the main routes for them ensuring the fastest way of reaching from the farthest northern suburbs to business areas on the southern tip of the city within a maximum of two hours.
However, the disruption in the schedules of these local trains has also forced the delivery people to take the day off. This is the third time that the dabbawalas are taking a day off in the past two months.
The first off was on Aug 9 when they attended the Maratha reservation rally, demanding reservation for the Maratha community in education and jobs. The second was on 29 Aug when the heavy rains had struck the city disturbing the daily schedule. The third one is today when once again due to heavy rainfall they have taken the day off.
Subhash Talekar, spokesperson of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association said that “the over 5,000 ‘dabbawalas’, who deliver around two lakh ‘dabbas’ (tiffins) a day won’t be able to do so today due to disruption of train services after heavy rains. We will resume our service tomorrow.”