MUMBAI: Two lives were lost –a fisherman’s by lightning in Bhayander and a 13-yearold girl’s by a tree fall in Dahisar–as the
monsoon officially arrived in Mumbai, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Pune, most of Konkan and parts of Marathwada and Vidarbha on Saturday. Its onset in the city was a day earlier than predicted, with chronic spots such as Hindmata junction, Parel, and Sion getting flooded. Yet overall, the mayhem was restricted by the weekend and relatively less rain in the suburbs.
While Bhandup alone saw 172mm of rain, the suburbs taken together were spared a full-scale onslaught, with Colaba getting 157mm from 8am to 8pm and Santacruz 64mm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Malad saw just 20mm between 2am and 5pm, and Kandivli, Dindoshi, Dahisar and Chembur recorded less than 50mm.
And though train services were delayed by 20-25 minutes due to waterlogging at Sion and Sandhurst Road and 20 domestic and 12 international flights had late take-offs, a non-working day meant far fewer traffic snarls and zero panic on the suburban railway network.
The Indian Meteorological Department has forecast that rain will continue over Mumbai on Sunday and heavy rainfall is also likely at isolated places in the city.
Maharashtra on the whole was among the wettest places in India as Malvan in the Konkan recorded 491mm rainfall, followed by Vengurla (266mm) and Bhiwandi (210mm).
Rainfall of more than 64mm is considered heavy, that in excess of 115mm is seen as very heavy, and if it crosses 204mm, it is categorized as extremely heavy.
