Gone with the wind: Toppled cranes, damaged stadium & signage

From toppling high capacity cranes at JNPT to damaging the signage atop the iconic Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building and causing destruction at Navi Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium, heavy rains accompanied with high- speed winds wreaked havoc on Wednesday.

From toppling high capacity cranes at JNPT to damaging the signage atop the iconic Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) building and causing destruction at Navi Mumbai's D Y Patil Stadium, heavy rains accompanied with high- speed winds wreaked havoc on Wednesday. The D Y Patil Stadium suffered heavy damage as the roof and outer railings of the sprawling structure were blown away due to high velocity winds.

A video that purportedly showed a metal sheet of the stadium blown away and collapsing near neighbouring buildings in Nerul, Navi Mumbai, went viral on social media. In south Mumbai, the high mast floodlight lamp posts of the Wankhede Stadium were swaying in gusty winds.

At Jaslok Hospital in Pedder Road, South Mumbai, the cement claddings of its buildings fell down due to gusty winds. Three high capacity cranes at the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in adjoining Raigad district collapsed in the afternoon, an official said.

"Due to high-speed winds, three key cranes fell at one of our terminals, but no one was injured in the incident," said Sanjay Sethi, chairman of JNPT. The signage atop the BSE building almost toppled, leading to an observer remarking that the "BSE" had crashed.

The Arabian Sea swelled and the water spilled over the outer road at Girgaon Chowpatty in south Mumbai in the afternoon. The road had over a fleet of water near Wilson College. According to local residents, this was the first time they witnessed such heavy water-logging on the road outside the chowpatty, Marine Drive and several other areas in south Mumbai.

First time in several years, I witnessed water- logging on Marine Drive and such a horrible scene in south Mumbai. It was a scary scene on roads around 5 pm, said a senior railway officer. The officer said when he reached home, he saw windows of his flat shattering in a scene straight out of horror movies.

The road outside Mantralaya, the secretariat of the Maharashtra government in south Mumbai, was submerged in rainwater and several trees had uprooted and fallen on nearby roads due to strong winds. State-owned J J Hospital witnessed heavy water-logging on the ground floor, which houses casualty ward and other departments.

According to the BMC, nearly 150 incidents of tree collapse were reported from acrossthe metropolis, crushing several vehicles, but there was no report of any casualty..