The Lonesome Road

Well, it seems that the rain has managed to do what most political parties cannot - shut down Mumbai. Totally.

Heavy rains over the last couple of days have brought in their wake heavy flooding of roads and rails. Once the rails are flooded and the trains stop moving, the city is more or less paralyzed. Add to that the fact that the roads are flooded as well - it simply brings the city to a standstill.

According to the news yesterday, gridlock traffic was the norm yesterday. People have actually left their cars on the road and looked for alternate ways to get back home.

The heavy rainfall also knocked off the electricity in most parts of Mumbai and power was restored only late last night in most places.

Note: Calling Mumbai requires patience. The cell phone lines are jammed and quite a few areas in Mumbai are almost unreachable by phone.

Travel advisory: The Pune-Mumbai roads are all blocked. This includes the old highway as well as the Expressway. Secondly, all trains on the Pune-Mumbai route have either been delayed or cancelled. Finally, Mumbai airport will remain closed today. Normal operations will start when the rain lets up.