Rain lashes Mumbai and Thane; IMD predicts more showers

Heavy rainfall at Ramabai Nagar, Ghatkopar East in Mumbai. Pic/Sameer Markande

Intense spells of rainfall continue to lash Mumbai on Wednesday, whereas parts of Thane, Navi Mumbai and Palghar have been witnessing heavy downpour.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an orange alert in Mumbai, Thane and Palghar till July 23, predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall.

Though there was increased rain intensity in the city and suburbs since Wednesday morning, there was no report of any major waterlogging in low-lying areas like Hindmata, Matunga and Kurla, officials of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

According to BMC officials, the IMD has predicted moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs with the possibility of very heavy showers at a few places and occasional winds reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 60 kmph in some areas.

The island city recorded 11.69 mm rain, while the eastern and western suburbs received 17.95 mm and 13.24 mm rain, respectively, in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Wednesday, the BMC said.

"In spite of the heavy rains, the Western Railway's suburban train services are running normal," WR's chief public relations officer Sumit Thakur said.

The local train services on the Central Railway route, which were badly hit due to the heavy downpour on Sunday and Monday, were also running normal, a CR official said.

There was no diversion of bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and the operations were smooth so far, its spokesperson said.

K.S. Hosalikar, head of Climate Research and Services, Pune, tweeted that Mumbai, Thane and adjoining areas have received intense spells of rains in the last three hours, with rainfall amount exceeding over 40 mm at few places.

Hosalikar added that as per latest radar observations from Mumbai, the winds in lower level are westerly and have been strengthened too. These winds will ensure moisture from Arabian Sea over the city and adjoining areas, required for sustaining the rainfall activity.

In a new record, the total amount of rain Mumbai received over the last weekend has crossed the average of July. Even the downpour recorded till Tuesday morning is 85 per cent of the season's total average rain.

According to climatological data, July gets 840.7 mm of rainfall, but this time it has registered more than 958.4 mm of rain so far. The heavy to very heavy spells of rain that lashed the city during the weekend has crossed the average of the entire July.

Heavy rainfall wreaked havoc in Mumbai and neighbouring areas on July 18-19. Severe waterlogging was reported in several parts of the city with road and rail traffic getting affected. At least 42 persons died in rain-related incidents.

Alerts by the IMD are colour-coded from green to red. A ''green'' alert stands for ''no warning'': no action needs to be taken by the authorities, and the forecast is of light to moderate rain. A ''red'' alert stands for "warning", and asks authorities to "take action". An ‘orange' alert indicates that the authorities are expected to "be prepared".

(With inputs from agency)