Newspapers warned of the threat of waterborne diseases, and hospitals and health centers geared up to distribute free medicines to check any outbreak.

Rain showers began intermittently hitting Bombay and its outlying areas again Saturday, though with far less force than earlier in the week.

Despite the rain, hundreds of residents in five Bombay districts raised anti-government slogans and blocked traffic for more than five hours to demand an immediate cleanup of the city. While some shielded themselves from rain with plastic shields, others got drenched as they protested outside civic offices.

Civic leaders pleaded for patience. They claimed equipment and workers to clear roads and drains were being called in from other areas hit by landslides.

As the monsoon rains moved back in Sunday, chaos reigned at Mumbai's airport, where flights were being redirected to New Delhi because of the weather. Trains have also been canceled in the region, possibly for the next week. In northern Mumbai, waters were rising steadily.