NAVI MUMBAI, July 2 -- Heavy rain lashed Navi Mumbai and Thane on Wednesday, flooding roads, disrupting rail and road traffic, and exposing issues of clogged drains across several low-lying areas. While civic teams rushed to clear waterlogged stretches and restore normalcy, commuters faced long delays as submerged roads, traffic congestion and transport disruptions brought parts of both cities to a standstill. Navi Mumbai bore the brunt of the downpour, receiving an average rainfall of around 200 mm in the 24 hours ending Wednesday night. The Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation headquarters station in CBD Belapur recorded the highest rainfall at 253 mm. The civic disaster management cell attended 25 incidents of tree and large branch falls, one slab collapse and one fire call. Heavy waterlogging was reported from the Sanpada underpass, Turbhe MIDC Road, low-lying stretches in Nerul and Juinagar, and internal roads in Vashi and CBD Belapur. The Turbhe railway station subway on the Trans Harbour line went underwater. Thane recorded 94.45 mm of rainfall between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Wednesday, triggering widespread waterlogging and traffic disruptions across key arterial roads. Congress leader Rahul Pingle, who has repeatedly raised concerns over inadequate desilting of nullas in Mumbra, blamed poor drainage maintenance for the flooding. Pankaj Shirsat, DCP, Traffic Police, Thane, told HT, "I request the public to avoid using the Mumbra-Panvel Road, Thane-Bhiwandi Road, and the Mumbai-Nashik Highway if similar rainfall occurs on Thursday or in the coming days, as these routes are prone to severe traffic congestion. People should venture out only if it an emergency."...