India: Heavy rains batter Mumbai yet again; air, rail traffic hit

Heavy rains battered India’s financial hub for the second time in weeks causing massive disruption at the country’s second busiest airport and forcing authorities to shut down schools and colleges. Monsoon rains that lashed Mumbai since Tuesday evening delayed services on the heavily-used suburban train network in a city that is home to India’s two biggest stock exchanges and the headquarters of several major companies. Low visibility, strong winds and slippery conditions caused a SpiceJet flight to overshoot the runway while landing on Tuesday night. The airline said all 183 passengers on the flight from the northern city of Varanasi were safe, but the incident led to widespread disruption in air traffic. India’s largest carrier Indigo and rivals Jet Airways and Vistara said they had halted some flights to and from Mumbai due to bad weather and unavailability of runways. “The main runway has been closed for operations and there are delays in arrival and departure of flights due to fluctuating weather,” said a senior official at the Mumbai airport, adding at least 50 flights had been canceled.<br/>