Heavy rains in India's Mumbai hit transport, shut schools

MUMBAI, July 08 (Reuters): Heavy rains flooded roads and railway lines on Monday in India's financial capital Mumbai, disrupting flights and forcing the closure of schools and colleges.
Just ahead of the morning rush hour, more than 300 mm (11.8 inches) of rain lashed the city of 12 million in the six hours until 7:00am (0130 GMT), civic officials said in a statement. More heavy showers were forecast, accompanying a high tide of 4.40 metres (14 ft) in the coastal city.
"There is heavy traffic on the roads and rail lines too have been affected," Eknath Shinde, the chief minister of Maharashtra, the western state whose capital is Mumbai, said on X, urging people to stay indoors unless necessary.
Mumbai commuters waded through knee-deep water that partially submerged vehicles in many areas, while traffic clogged the city's Eastern and Western Express highways.
Water on the tracks forced railway authorities to cancel some long-distance trains. Television images showed some suburban passenger trains halted on inundated lines.
India's seasonal monsoon rains, which start at the end of May, bring respite from heatwave conditions after a scorching summer but have also triggered widespread flooding across the country in recent years. In Bihar state in the east of India, separate cases of lightning strikes killed 12 people, taking the toll from such incidents to 20 since the start of the month, a state government official said.
More than 2 million people have also been affected by rivers flooding in northeastern Assam, where the Kaziranga National Park, home to the rare one-horned rhinoceros, was inundated. Six of the animals drowned, authorities said on Sunday.