Nearly 800 rescued as two Mumbai monorails halt midway amid heavy rains, CM Fadnavis promises inquiry

The Hindu

2 days ago

Chaos prevailed on Tuesday (August 19, 2025) evening after two separate incidents of Mumbai Monorail breakdowns left 782 passengers stranded mid-air, triggering massive rescue operations by the Mumbai Fire Brigade (MFB), police and emergency services.
The first incident occurred at 6:38 p.m. between Bhakti Park and Mysore Colony stations in Chembur (East), when a monorail came to an abrupt halt. Passengers were stranded for more than two hours before being rescued with the help of Turn Table Ladder (TTL) and Aerial Ladder Platform (ALP). 582 passengers were safely evacuated by the fire brigade team, said Ravindra Ambulgekar, Chief Fire Officer, Mumbai Fire Brigade.
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'We reached here after 10 minutes and assured all the passengers that they are safe and they will be rescued safely. All the passengers are safe and the rescue operation has been completed. Since the passengers were stuck inside, some of them panicked and tried to break open the window. The window was broken by the fire brigade team and once we were there, we asked everyone to calm down,' Mr. Ambulgekar said, adding that 150 team from fire brigade were deployed.
Six passengers who complained of suffocation were treated inside an onsite ambulance and discharged.
The second incident was reported at 7:33 p.m. between Acharya Atre and Wadala Monorail stations, where another train stopped due to a power failure. The stranded monorail was eventually towed to Wadala station after electricity supply was restored, rescuing nearly 200 passengers. Two passengers, Aman Singh (23) and Aishwarya Sandip Pawar (27) who suffered from suffocation were shifted to KEM Hospital by 108 ambulance. Hospital authorities later confirmed that Mr. Pawar's condition was stable.
Mumbai monorail breaks down amid heavy rain
Emergency response teams including MFB, Police, Monorail staff, and 108 ambulance services were mobilised at both sites.
MMRDA officials said they were not aware of the second incident as of 11:30 p.m.. However, in a statement for the first incident, the company said that overcrowding on the train, due to heavy rains impacting other transportation routes, led to the stoppage of the monorail. 'Preliminary checks revealed that due to overcrowding, the total weight of the train rose to around 109 metric tonnes, which exceeded its designed capacity of 104 metric tonnes. This excess weight caused a break in the mechanical contact between the power rail and the current collector, cutting off the electricity supply required to run the train.'
The statement added, 'MMRDA immediately dispatched a team of technicians to the site and, as per SOP, deployed another mono to tow stalled mono. Normally, in such situations, the stalled train is towed to the nearest station. However, because of the excess weight, it could not be towed and therefore, a rescue operation had to be carried out with the help of the Fire Brigade.'
Overcrowding on the Monorail was triggered by the closure of the Indian Railways Harbour Line owing to heavy rainfall in Mumbai. Despite repeated efforts by security personnel to regulate boarding and prevent excessive crowding, the surge in commuter demand overwhelmed the system, it said.
'It is important to note that the Mumbai Monorail is a low-capacity transit system, intended to serve specific corridors and not designed for sudden high-volume loads akin to suburban railways or metro systems. Today's incident is happened primarily due to overcrowding, MMRDA requests all commuters to kindly follow the instructions of the security and technical teams deployed for ensuring smooth operations during the emergency situations like today,' the official said.