Heavy Rainfall in Mumbai and Suburbs Causes Chaos, IMD Issues Alerts
Mumbai and its suburbs experienced heavy rainfall, causing chaos in the city. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued alerts for various regions in Maharashtra.
After a brief hiatus, Mumbai and its suburbs woke up to rain on Friday, with many parts of the Maximum City reporting moderate to heavy rainfall since the early hours. Both road and air traffic were partially affected.
As per the Automatic Rain Gauges installed across Mumbai, heavy rainfall lashed parts of Matunga (88.5mm), Mumbai Airport (71mm), and Vikhroli (78mm) during the last 12 hours. Moderate-intensity rain was recorded in Mumbai - Colaba (56mm), Dahisar (48.5mm), Chembur (46.5mm), Mahalaxmi (31mm), and Bhayander (18mm).
The two main observatories of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) at Santacruz and Colaba recorded 115.8mm and 86mm rainfall, respectively. At present, the southwest monsoon is active over Maharashtra, especially over the west coast and southern regions adjoining Goa.
"Due to strengthening of the westerly winds, there is likely to be a gradual intensification in the rainfall in Maharashtra, especially over Konkan, Mumbai, and the ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra during the next four to five days," an IMD official said.
After remaining concentrated in the south, the monsoon trough has returned to its normal position. On Friday, it passed through Sri Ganganagar, Hissar, Agra, Prayagraj, Daltonganj, Ranchi, Digha, and dipped into the northeast Bay of Bengal.
The IMD has issued an 'orange' alert for Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar till Saturday with a high probability of heavy to very heavy rainfall (64.5 - 204.4mm in 24 hours), while an 'orange' alert has been sounded for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, ghat areas of Pune, Satara, and Kolhapur districts till July 15.