Video of near-stampede at Thane station amid duststorm goes viral
What's the story
A severe storm that hit Mumbai on Monday led to significant delays in local train services and caused a near-stampede situation at Thane Railway Station.
A video of the incident went viral, showing hundreds of women jostling to board an overcrowded train compartment.
The incident sparked criticism of railway management across various social media platforms.
Service suspension
Storm disruption halts train services for over two hours
The storm disrupted all forms of traffic and railway movement in Mumbai and its suburbs.
A Central Railway official reported that local train services were suspended for over two hours from around 4:15pm after an overhead pole was bent due to strong winds between Thane and Mulund stations.
Slow and delayed train services resumed on the main corridor around 6:45pm.
Additional delays
Precautionary measures lead to further disruptions
In a precautionary move, suburban services were suspended for 10-15 minutes at various locations on both the main and harbor lines during peak evening rush hours.
This led to further disruption of services, overcrowding at several stations, and in some instances, passengers were forced to walk on the tracks after their trains came to a standstill.
Western Railway Chief Spokesperson Sumit Thakur confirmed that suburban services were running at least 15-20 minutes late after the storm.
Metro disruption
Storm causes signal failure and metro line suspension
The storm also caused a signal failure near Charni Road Station.
On Metro Line 7, which connects Aarey Colony with Andheri East Station in Mumbai, services were suspended after a banner landed on the overhead wire during the storm.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai issued a "nowcast warning" forecasting a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning and moderate to intense spells of rain for Thane, Palghar, and Mumbai.
Weather alert
Yellow alert issued amid unseasonal rain and storm
The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) of Mumbai issued a yellow alert for several districts including Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Solapur, Latur, Beed, Nagpur, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg.
The storm and unseasonal rain uprooted trees, caused heavy traffic jams across the city, and led to power outages in areas like Kalwa in Thane district.
In Ghatkopar area, 14 people were killed after an iron hoarding collapsed amid rain and gusty wind.