Mumbai,
With parts of Mumbai receiving a whopping 298 mm of rainfall over just nine hours, the country’s financial capital has come to a complete halt.

According to private Skymet weather station, its observatory at Santa Cruz in the suburbs received 298 mm of rain between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm. The city received more rain only on July 26, 2005, when it poured more than 900 mm in span of just a few hours.

Tens of thousands of Mumbaikars were stranded across the city as transport has come to a complete halt. Police and fire officials said they had rescued a number of people from drowning in the flood waters, which rose above the waist level late in the afternoon. Heavy rains coinciding with high tides at 4.30 pm worsened the situation as the pumps meant to evacuate flood water had to be shut down, officials from the disaster management cell of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation said.

Both the Central and Western Railway services suspended operations of suburban train services as tracks were flooded. The Western Railway also rescheduled the Rajdhani Express to Delhi which was to depart at 5 pm. It is not clear when the train will depart from Mumbai.

With people stranded across the city, good samaritans opened their homes to strangers and provided them with succour. Religious organisations like gurdwaras also announced langars to provide food and water to the needy.

Health care across the city was also affected with several public hospitals being flooded as well. The state-run KEM hospital postponed surgeries after rainwater flooded its ground floor, sources said.