Wednesday, July 5 2006 16:56 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds lashed this city for the fifth consecutive day today (July 5, 2006), paralysing normal life and disrupting road, rail and air traffic.

Several areas of the metropolis remained water logged and the heavy showers made relief and rescue operations difficult for civic authorities," officials said.

Suburban train services were discontinued on the Central line due to inundation of tracks and those on the Western line were running behind schedule, while air traffic too was affected due to poor visibility.

In Neelkanth Nagar of Charkop in north Mumbai, efforts were on to shift nearly 80 families living in a slum to a safe place after their houses were submerged, police said. "There were at least two dozen places in the city where the water level was between two feet and three feet," officials said.

The met office predicted heavy to very heavy rains or showers, with one or two extremely heavy falls in the city and suburbs, coupled with strong gusty winds for the day.

Met officials have warned fishermen against venturing out to sea as the waters are rough and hoisted the Flag 3 danger signal. The rainfall recorded at Colaba from 8.30 am to 11.30 am was 55.1 mm and that at Santacruz was 20.7 mm.

Earlier, the Bombay High Court rapped the civic body for its failure to drain water from low lying areas and sought action against contractors for their lapses.

Air traffic was delayed by between 30 and 90 minutes in the morning due to poor visibility. Some flights were diverted but there were no cancellations, officials said. The Indian airline diverted two flights to Hyderabad and Ahmedabad due to poor visibility.

"Though the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai (MCGM)used nearly 100 pumps to drain water, the heavy downpour made the task difficult," officials said.

Areas of central Mumbai like Parel and Kalachowkie, Nawab Tank in Wadala, some areas of Sion, Matunga and Kurla, Ghatkopar in northeast Mumbai, Milan subway, Vakola subway, Juhu and Kandivali in north Mumbai experienced water logging. Central Railway services, which plied normally in themorning, were disrupted by noon as tracks were inundated at Sion, Matunga, Byculla and Masjid railway stations. Suburban services were indefinitely discontinued in the afternoon with Central Railway authorities keeping a watch on the situation and waiting for waters to recede. Morning long distance trains made it to the city, but officials said the arrival and departure of trains in the evening would depend on the rains.

BEST bus services, however, plied normally on a majority of routes, officials said.