The cyclonic storm ‘Phyan’, which scared the whole Mumbai city on Wednesday afternoon, crossed the western coast close to Mumbai, sparing the metropolitan area and got subsided without causing any major damage.

But the threat of a disturbingly approaching storm, caused by what the meteorological office termed as a “deep depression”, created a huge panic in Mumbai, drew out unusually quick precautionary measures, and finally resulted in an unofficial holiday in Mumbai. With never-ending showers lashing the metropolitan area, Konkan and several other parts of the state on Tuesday and Wednesday morning, the scare of the cyclone got real for the BMC and state government to intervene early. The BMC ordered closure of all schools and colleges in Mumbai.

All offices except those looking after essential duties promptly called it a day so that people could leave early.

The railways and BEST bus service were put into service to take people home early afternoon hours. However, the cyclone alert was withdrawn by evening. “The cyclonic storm has crossed the coast between Mumbai and Alibaug at 1530-1630 hours and will further move towards north and north east. It is expected to weaken within the next six hours,” IMD (Mumbai) Director Sati Devi said Due to continuous showers all through Tuesday night and Wednesday morning, there were traffic jams, overcrowding and flooding in different parts of the city.

Nonstop showers in the morning, a high-tide alert between 3 pm and 5 pm, a turbulent sea, all scared people out of workplaces early. The two main suburban railway stations – Churchgate and CST – were heavily crowded by afternoon, much early than the usual peak time of 1830 - 2030 Hrs.

Continuous rains also lashed Pune, most parts of Western Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Nashik, affecting normal life and damaging crops, mainly cotton and grapes. The Met department has predicted heavy to very heavy showers in the city on Thursday as well.