Mumbai: At least four people, including two minors, were killed as heavy rains on Friday lashed Mumbai and surrounding areas for the second consecutive day, throwing normal life out of gear, officials said.

Five people were killed in Andhra Pradesh and seven in Bihar as heavy rains continued to lash the country.

More than half a million people have been affected by floods in Bihar, which have so far forced thousands to flee their homes, officials said yesterday.

Hundreds of villages in Purnea, Kishanganj, Araria, Katihar and Muzaffarpur districts have been flooded in the aftermath of heavy rain.

Bihar Chief Secretary Ashok Kumar Sinha said that the floods have affected more than 198,000 people in Kishanganj and 294,000 people in Purnea. Besides, over 100,000 people were affected in Araria, Katihar and Muzaffarpur districts.

The state government has announced compensation of Rs150,000 (Dh9,200) to the kin of each of those killed.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed serious concern over the alarming flood situation, and directed officials to open relief camps and speed up rescue operations in affected areas, an official in the chief minister’s office said.

Parts of coastal Andhra and Telangana regions were receiving incessant rains for the second day, leading to rivulets, streams and tanks overflowing, inundating low-lying areas, affecting road transport, and disrupting electricity supply and communication.

Revenue, Relief and Rehabilitation Minister Raghuveera Reddy said that officials were directed to remain alert and evacuate people from low-lying areas, wherever necessary.

Five people were killed in different rain-related incidents. In Hyderabad, where the normal life was affected due to rains for the second day, one woman was killed when a house collapsed in Mangalhat area.

Mumbai’s lifeline, the suburban railways, which carry over eight million commuters daily, was badly hit with waterlogging on tracks. Peak-hour commuters were delayed.

Though the suburban trains were running late by around 30 minutes on the Western Railway (WR) and Central Railway (CR), the only dislocation of train services was on the Thane sector of the suburban section.

In the city, many low-lying areas, including railway lines, were water-logged or flooded, hampering movement of road and rail traffic.

However, the WR’s long-distance services took a severe drubbing as incessant rains caused heavy flooding on railway lines in north Maharashtra and south Gujarat, officials said.

All train services on the WR’s Mumbai-Ahmedabad and Mumbai-New Delhi sectors were badly hit due to floods in and around Valsad in south Gujarat.

This resulted in several cancellations, major delays or short termination of various important trains on these sectors, including the Flying Ranee, Karnavati Express, Double-Decker Express, August Kranti Rajdhani Express, Golden Temple Mail and others, a WR official said.

Valsad in south Gujarat was among the worst-hit with two-feet-deep water inside the station, preventing movement of local and long-distance trains.