Mumbai: Mumbai woke up to a gloomy, rain-soaked morning on Monday as heavy showers continued to lash the city for the third consecutive day, leading the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an ‘red’ alert for the city and its neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar, indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall throughout the day.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared a holiday in all schools now amid heavy rain.
According to the local weather forecast for the next 48 hours, Mumbai and its suburbs are expected to witness moderate to heavy rainfall, with the possibility of very heavy showers accompanied by gusty winds, particularly during the night. The city’s temperatures are likely to remain steady, with the maximum hovering around 27°C and the minimum around 24°C.
Data from the IMD shows that in the past 24 hours ending at 8:30 am today, the suburban Santacruz station received 99 mm rainfall, while the Colaba coastal observatory registered 38 mm rain. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) automatic weather stations, between 8:00 am yesterday and 6:00 am today, the heaviest rainfall was recorded in the eastern suburbs, which clocked in average of 60.57 mm rain, followed by 52.30 average rainfall in the western suburbs, and 45 mm rain in the island city division.
The heavy rain resulted in water accumulation across low-lying areas of Mumbai, adding to the city’s monsoon woes. Owing to waterlogging, both lanes of the Andheri subway have been shut for vehicular movement for the day.
The Mumbai Traffic Police have routed the traffic via Thackeray bridge and Gokhale bridge. According to the police, waterlogging has also been reported along the Vakola bridge, Hyatt Junction as well as Khar subway, leading to slow traffic movement.
The railway network, considered Mumbai’s lifeline, has also felt the impact, with Central and Harbour Railway reporting delays of nearly ten minutes. The various airlines operating from Mumbai issued advisories to their passengers asking them to report early. IndiGo issued an early advisory urging passengers to allow extra time for airport commutes and check flight status before leaving home.
“Mumbai is still under a blanket of rain, and the roads are moving at a gentler pace than usual. Waterlogging has been reported in parts of the city, especially on key airport routes,” the airline posted on its X handle. Akasa Air and Air India later followed with similar advisories.
