Rail schedules on both the Western and Central railways were peppered by minor disruptions and traffic choked nodal points on arterial roads since late afternoon. Taxi drivers, as usual, made capital of commuters' apprehensions, some of them charging a flat rate of Rs 15-20 near Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Mumbai, in effect, limped through another wet and dreary day.

But the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking and the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is taking no chances. Both public utility services stationed 25 buses/vehicles each at Azad Maidan and Nagar Chowk depot at CST to facilitate commuter movement in case of any eventuality, especially due to the inclement weather forecast for tomorrow.

Theyalso stationed two officers, one at Churchgate and one at CST to coordinate with railway officials in case of breakdowns.

Railway spokespersons said local trains on both suburban railways today were running 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule till noon and several trains were cancelled due to the rough weather. However, the situation worsened late in the afternoon, with trains 30 to 40 minutes behind schedule.

On the Western Railway, an overhead cable snapped on the slow track between Mahim and Bandra causing further delays till evening. The cable was repaired by 2 pm.

On the Central Railway, waterlogging along the tracks and near stations like Sandhurst Road, Mahim, Matunga, Sion, Chunabhatti, Tilak Nagar and Govandi caused much dismay. The tracks were submerged in some places provoking caution among motormen. On the Harbour Line, services beyond Mankhurd were either paralysed or slowed to a crawl.

Many corporate offices in South Mumbai took no chances and allowed women employees to leave early.``Saturday's incident is still fresh in our minds and hence we decided to send women home by 12.30 pm today,'' says the general manager of a multinational at Tulsiani Chambers, Nariman Point.

There was no rescheduling or major delays in flight schedules. Poor visibility slowed landings and take-offs by five to 10 minutes.The slick asphalt and minor water-logging in some areas had a cascading effect though road traffic was not thrown out of gear. Traffic jams were seen at Saki Naka in Andheri (E), at Bandra bridge, Matunga-Gandhi Market near Kings Circle, Milan Subway and Powai Garden. Double-deck buses were not run near Gandhi Market at Kings Circle due to an excessive accumulation of water in these two areas. Fire officials received several calls reporting broken tree limbs at scattered places and about 5,000 telephones of the Sion and Chembur exchanges went on the blink on account of water seepage.

Huge waves licked the seaface, at Marine Drive, Haji Ali, Worli and the Gateway of India, whipping upexcitement among pedestrians.

No respite

The Weather Bureau has forecast heavy rains accompanied by squally winds for Mumbai during the next 24 hours. Mumbai has received 1,322.2 mm of rainfall since June 1, the bureau says. Compared to Saturday's downpour, today's rainfall was much milder. Saturday registered 159.2 mm of rainfall between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm at Colaba and 75.6 mm at Santacruz, against today's 65.6 mm at Colaba and 53.1 mm at Santacruz for the same period.