Mumbai rain updates: ‘It was a nightmare at every station’

Himanshu Mukerjee 27I am an environmental consultant Due to heavy rain and waterlogging it took me quite a while to reach my destination while travelling from Ghansoli to Dahisar where I reside On arriving at Ghansoli station I heard about waterlogging on the mainline hence I opted for the Harbour line There were delays and crowding The journey from Chembur to Chunabhatti took 35 minutes because of waterlogging around Tilak Nagar drain and Kurla station Trains ran at a speed of 15 kmph because of the circumstancesAbhishek Jhanwar 30I am a chartered accountant who resides in Thakurli and works at Nariman Point I boarded a 729 pm Kalyanbound 15car local train from CSMT which departed by 736 pm As it was raining heavily I was already half wet At Kurla the train got crowded As soon as the train left Kurla station it halted for about 20 minutes According to WhatsApp messages trains were not running between Vikhroli and Bhandup due to waterlogging It took 15 hours for my train to reach Mulund from Kurla It took almost two and a half hours to reach Dombivli station where I deboarded around 10 pm Instead of providing updates to passengers recordings of PM Narendra Modi speaking about Swachh Bharat Abhiyan were played throughout the journey People were getting calls from worried relatives Everyone was frustratedTushar Dhake 45I am a Kalyan resident who has been working for a nonbanking financial company in Kalina Santacruz The train I was returning home in halted for almost two hours between Ghatkopar and Vikhroli stations Yet no announcement was made by a motorman or guard Passengers were in a fix not knowing whether to wait for the train to start moving or jump onto the tracks There was no cellular network available and the atmosphere was stiflingRailways could have at least made announcements and attempted to improve ventilation A 40minute journey from Kurla to Kalyan took almost 2 hours and 30 minutesRam Pravesh Yadav 37Irsquom a Nerul resident Once the rains had subsided colleagues and I left our offices at Ghatkopar around 910 pm As the LBS Marg was badly congested we walked all the way to the Ghatkopar railway station We had to wait for almost an hour to catch a train to Kurla It was very crowded due to the delay and the journey took more than half an hour Once we alighted at Kurla we saw that the harbour line tracks were flooded After some time we learnt that all trains had been cancelled We tried to book a cab but none was available After a while we decided to walk home At Chembur we were offered a lift by a trucker who dropped us off at the Vashi APMC We were able to get rickshaws here We reached home around 230 am One colleague reached his Panvel residence around 4 amPradyumna Alwani 35Irsquom a banker who resides in Dombivli and works at Bandra Kurla Complex I was stranded at Kurla station on Wednesday There were no proper announcements We were informed that trains had been delayed but services had stopped Commuters on trains were left in the dark as no announcements had been made People faced issues due to the paucity of washrooms and food stalls Seating arrangements on platforms were completely soakedK N Chandramouli 72I am a Sion resident who owns a plastic moulding company outside Kanjurmarg railway station As usual after winding up for the day around 730 pm on Wednesday I proceed to the station to catch a train home A CSMTbound train arrived around 740 pm and I boarded it not knowing that I was in for a horrific ordeal The train did not budge for over 45 minutes and when it did move it took another 45 minutes to reach the next station Vikhroli It was a nightmare at every station There was a stampedelike situation The coach was overpacked and suffocating due to the windows and doors being closed preventing rainwater from entering the compartment Many felt extreme nausea And I was travelling first class It was approximately 230 hours when Sion arrived At Sion I was forcefully ejected onto the platform I thanked God for keeping me intact