Almost all 200 passengers were brought out by 9:15 pm by breaking the windowpanes of a monorail that was stranded for over three hours, and counting, in Mumbai on Tuesday, after it lost power supply amid heavy rain.
Rescuers first tried to tow the four-coach monorail — stranded on a curve on the several feet high track near Mysore Colony — to the nearest station with the help of another monorail, but the brakes remained jammed, officials told HT.
Truck-mounted scissor lifts were then deployed, besides cranes and ladders. Four buses were deployed to send passengers home once rescued.
Why Mumbai monorail got stuck
Astik Pandey, joint commissioner of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Development Authority, said the train was loaded beyond capacity.
“The capacity of the monorail is 109 metric tonnes. On Tuesday, it was overloaded due to excessive crowds. On a curve, there was a mechanical disconnect of electric current. After that, emergency brake was deployed, hence the rake stopped working,” he said.
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Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said an inquiry will be conducted.
The monorail service was closed between Chembur and Bhakti Park since 6.15 pm as passengers contacted the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s emergency number 1916 for immediate help. The fire brigade started relief work soon after with the help of three snorkel vehicles at first.
Videos of the stranded train went viral.
One of the videos on social media showed the monorail with passengers stranded at a curve.
The Maha Mumbai Metro Operation Corporation issued a statement on the matter: “One Monorail train near Mysore Colony station has experienced a minor power supply issue. Our operations and maintenance teams are already on-site and working to resolve it quickly. For now, services between Wadala and Chembur are running smoothly on a single line. We sincerely thank you for your patience and assure you that your safety remains our top priority.”
Meanwhile, other transport services were hit too, within and connecting to the city.
Mumbai local trains hit due to rain
Commuters faced severe hardship as local services of Central Railway were disrupted on its main and harbour lines due to submergence of tracks after torrential rains. At some places, tracks were submerged under as much as 17 inches of water, officials said. The services were restored after several hours.
Mumbai airport affected by rain
Flights at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport in Mumbai were seeing an average delay of 40 minutes on Tuesday evening.
Eight flights had to go around before landing, and three were diverted in the afternoon, making it a total of 17 go-arounds and 11 diversions for the day so far.