Heavy rains have taken a toll on Mumbai and Central Railway is facing the heat over this. Central Railway yesterday mentioned it will carry out mega blocks for maintenance work at four stations. However, as heavy rains began in early hours of Sunday, the Railways authority were forced to shut down the mega block due to inconvenience caused by water logging - mega block is suspension of traffic on a long stretch due repair or other work on the line. The Railways were going to carry out the mega block in Vidyavihar-Byculla up slow line from 11.20 am to 4.20 pm & Kurla-Vashi Up and Dn Harbour Lines from 11.10 am to 4.20 pm.

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According to Skymet, in last 24 hours, from 8:30 am on Saturday, Santa Cruz observatory recorded massive three-digit rains to the tune of 131 mm. However, rains were on the moderate side for Colaba which recorded just about 33 mm of rainfall. The suburbs of the city also saw heavy rains wherein Thane recorded a whopping 163 mm of rains.

Therefore, the Central Railway through its Twitter handle mentions, “ In view of bad weather/heavy rains, Mega block on Up local line between Vidyavihar - Byculla from 11.20 to 16.20 hrs has been cancelled.”

However, the Railway stated that, mega block on up and down harbour line between Kurla - Vashi will be operated as per schedule.

Mega block in Kurla to Vashi has been scheduled to begin from 11am to 4.10pm. In this time period, DN Harbour line services to Panvel/Belapur/Vashi leaving to Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus from 10.34am to 3.39pm and Up harbour line services for CST leaving to Panvel/Belapur/Vashi will remain suspended.

However, special local trains will continue operations from CST to Kurla and Vashi to Panvel sections during the block.

Central Railway on Kurla - Vashi mega block said, “Due to these blocks, suburban trains are likely to be more crowded than usual. Passengers are requested not to take any risk while travelling. They are also requested to avoid travelling on footboard, roof top of locals and not to board extremely overcrowded trains.”

Mega block is considered as an essential tool for infrastructure upkeep and safety. However, Railways will face trouble in carrying out their mega block operations if rains intensify.

Now, as per weathermen at Skymet Weather, on and off heavy rains are expected to continue for another 48 hours.

This situation has been attributed to the presence of the off-shore trough along the West Coast. Along with this, a cyclonic circulation in the mid-levels at around 10,000 feet has also been persisting close to South Gujarat and North Konkan region due to which rains have increased over the city of Mumbai.