The city came to a near standstill yesterday as heavy rains lashed maximum areas in Mumbai. The downpour caused traffic snarls and people were seen walking through knee-deep water. More than 6500 BMC employees was deputed at different areas in city.

Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) said that Mumbai has received 54 per cent of average monsoonal rainfall in the past 20 days. IMD said that heavy rainfall will persist for the next four days. Over 38 mm rainfall was recorded in Colaba and 46mm rainfall lashed Santacurz till 2:30 pm yesterday afternoon. In the previous 24 hours, rainfall was about 117 mm.

Western Railway made arrangements for food and water for passengers left stranded, due to the cancellation and rescheduling of several long distance trains, due to water logging in various parts of the city.

Many trains were either cancelled or running late. Nearly 100 trains were cancelled on the suburban railway network. Indian Railways' premium trains like Rajdhani and Shatabdi were also cancelled.

Flight services have been hit badly. Mumbai's famous lunch packer the dabbawalas suspended work due to heavy rainfall and water-logging. Teams of NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) and Coast Guards were asked to help stranded passengers.

People take cover under their umbrellas as they wade through a waterlogged street yesterday

The railway tracks of Sion station in Central Mumbai were waterlogged following the heavy downpour of rain in the city. The road outside Elphinstone station was also waterlogged. Gandhi Market, near Sion and Matunga also witnessed waterlogging.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in a tweet said that the Disaster Management Cell and all the concerned departments were working hard to provide every possible assistance.

Meanwhile, several schools in Thane and Palghar remained shut, due to the excessively heavy rainfall in these districts.