Record-breaking rains hit India, killing 200 in Mumbai

MUMBAI -- India's financial capital was paralyzed yesterday by the strongest rains ever recorded in Indian history, with torrential downpours -- 37 inches in one day -- marooning drivers, forcing students to sleep at school, and snapping communication lines. At least 200 people died.

At its worst, the rainfall descended in what looked like a solid wall of water, overwhelming Mumbai, a crowded city long accustomed to monsoon rains and also known as Bombay.

''Never before in Bombay's history has this happened," said Police Commissioner A.N. Roy. ''Our first priority is to rescue people stranded in floods."

''Approximately 200 dead bodies have already been recovered in the state," deputy chief minister R.R. Patil said, adding that an additional 100 deaths were feared across Maharashtra state, where Mumbai is the capital.

At least 83 people have died in Mumbai, crushed by falling walls, trapped in cars, or electrocuted since the most intense rains swept through the city Tuesday evening, Patil said. Phone networks collapsed, highways were blocked, and the city's airports, among the nation's busiest, were closed.

While yesterday's precipitation was still being totaled, officials said parts of the city had been hit by up to 37.1 inches of rain Tuesday, much of it falling over just a few hours.

Across Mumbai, traffic was backed up all night and into yesterday, with drivers abandoning their vehicles on roads turned into waist-high rivers. At one point, according to state-run All India Radio, about 150,000 people were stranded in railway stations.

Others stayed for hours on buses and trains surrounded by swirling water.

''We were stuck in a bus all through the night with nothing to eat or drink. It was impossible to get out because there was water all around," said Yamini Patil, a government employee.

Rajesh Khubchandani, a businessman, abandoned his car and spent 15 hours marooned with several other people on a traffic island.

''We saw two bodies floating past. I don't know how they died, but they just floated past early in the morning," Khubchandani said.

Television footage showed crowds scrambling for food parcels dropped from helicopters by navy rescue teams as the bodies of two men lay sprawled in the streets of a neighborhood.

Such scenes have never before been seen in Mumbaiy, a cosmopolitan city that is home to India's financial and movie industries. Every year, Mumbai is brought to a halt for a day or two by heavy monsoon rains that drench the country between June and September and often leave hundreds dead nationwide.

But this week's downpours left the city reeling.

''Most places in India don't receive this kind of rainfall in a year. This is the highest ever recorded in India's history," said R.V. Sharma, director of the meteorological department in Bombay.

Home Minister Shivraj Patil said 633 people have died nationwide since June 1 in the heavy seasonal rains, which have washed away tens of thousands of homes, roads, railway tracks, and bridges.

Maharashtra's top elected official, Vilasrao Deshmukh, ordered a two-day work stoppage early yesterday to keep workers at home and called out the military to help.

''Inflatable rafts will be used to reach stranded people. Please try to stay where you are and don't leave your homes," he said.