Monsoon fury: IMD issues red alert for Mumbai and Konkan this week

Mumbai and the northern region of Konkan area in Maharashtra are receiving unusually heavy spells of rain since Tuesday evening. The showers are arousing the fear of waterlogging in low-lying areas. If these areas get inundated, it can cause disturbances in the normal operations of civic amenities such as water and electricity, India Meteorological Department (IMD) authorities said in a statement on Wednesday.

In two rounds of shower, one between 2 am, and 5 am on Wednesday, and the previous evening, Mumbai received around 150 mm of rain.

Between 8.30 am and 12.30 pm, the different areas in Mumbai such as Bandra (95 mm), Santacruz (63 mm), Ram Mandir (63 mm) Mahalaxmi (53 mm), and Colaba (16 mm) received large amounts of rainfall.

The city is expected to receive up to 250 mm by the end of Wednesday triggering panic about flooding and waterlogging of low-lying areas.

IMD has issued a red category alert which gives the signal to take action, urging the public to protect themselves from imminent rough weather conditions owing to the monsoon fury.

“Under the influence of a low-level cyclonic circulation over north Konkan in the lower tropospheric levels and an east-west shear zone, the Konkan area is experiencing active monsoon conditions with occurrences of heavy to very heavy rain at few places over Mumbai during the past 24 hours,” IMD said in its special bulletin at 12.30 pm.

Mumbai, and adjoining Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts are most prone to receive extreme rains for the next 18 hours.

“Along with the low-level circulation over the region, there is a strong wind convergence. Southwesterly winds from the Arabian Sea are interacting with the orography of the Western Ghats. We can expect hefty rains on Wednesday and also Thursday,” said RK Jenamani, senior scientist, National Weather Forecasting Centre (NWFC).

On the contrary, the coastal state of Kerala has recorded a rain deficiency of 24 per cent between June 1-14.