India floods: At least 27 dead as walls collapse on shanty homes in Mumbai and western cities

India's financial capital wants to become a global hub - but every year its infrastructure struggles to cope with heavy monsoon rains

Rescue workers and locals stand near a damaged structure after a wall collapsed at the Pimpri Wada Malad East in Mumbai (EPA)

At least 27 people have died in western India as heavy monsoon rains caused walls to collapse onto homes and widespread disruption.

Schools and offices were shut in the financial hub of Mumbai as more than 300mm (11.8 inches) of rain fell in just 24 hours, flooding streets and railway tracks and causing a river to burst its banks.

The deadliest single incident occurred in Malad, a western suburb of Mumbai, where a wall came crashing down onto a group of shanty houses built on a hill slope.

Police and fire service officials said at least 18 people were crushed and more than 66 injured, with at least two dozen being pulled free from the mud and rubble. “Rescue work is still going on,” a firefighter told the Reuters news agency, as teams with sniffer dogs scoured the site.

In the nearby city of Pune at least six people were killed by a wall collapsing on Tuesday. It follows a similar incident in that city on Saturday in which 15 died.

And in Kalyan, a city 42 km (26 miles) north of Mumbai, three people died when the wall of a school collapsed.

India's Central Railway said in a tweet that "nature's fury" made operating trains a "safety hazard" in some areas in the city. Millions of passengers commute daily on a network of famed railways in Mumbai, which was only operating a partial service on Tuesday.

And the main runway at Mumbai airport, India's second biggest, was closed from midnight after a SpiceJet flight overshot the runway while landing, an airport spokeswoman said.

The secondary runway is operational, but 55 flights were diverted and another 52 were cancelled due to bad weather, she said.

Weather officials said Mumbai has received the highest rainfall in a decade over a two-day period since Sunday. TV channels showed footage of submerged cars and water flowing through ground floors of some residential buildings.

Maharashtra's chief minister Devendra Fadnavis tweeted that weather officials forecast more heavy rain for Tuesday. "People are advised to stay indoors unless there is any emergency," he said.

India’s monsoon season runs from June to September across the country, and each year Mumbai - despite hopes of transforming itself into a global financial hub - suffers extensive disruption as its often poorly-built infrastructure struggles to cope with the huge influx of rain.

Additional reporting by agencies