Heavy rains on Monday threw life out of gear in Mumbai, bringing back memories of July 26, when an unprecedented 911 millimeters of rainfall brought life in the financial capital to a halt.

Over the past 24 hours, Colaba in south Mumbai has 129 mm of rainfall and suburban Santa Cruz registered 164 mm.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation and the state government have asked corporate offices to allow employees to leave early and in batches.

The Mumbai high court too closed down early.

Many schools and colleges have asked students to leave early as most of the city's low-lying areas were flooded.

Local trains � lifeline for nearly 6.5 million commuters � were running late by 30 minutes.

Air traffic was also hit and many flights were delayed and some were cancelled.

The weather bureau has predicted that the city will face heavy rains for the next 48 hours, thus causing fear in the minds of many people.

The Disaster Management Group set up by the Maharashtra government has already swung into action and is taking no chances this time.

The fire brigade and all BMC employees have been told to be on alert to avert any kind of disaster.

Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh, however, said his government was better prepared and assured that there was no need to panic.

"We have reports of water clogging in many areas of the city, but we are much better prepared this time," Deshmukh said.

On July 26, 2005, Mumbai witnessed its worst rains and more than 400 people died in the incident.