In 14 days, Mumbai nears 100% of July rain target; no let-up till tomorrow

MUMBAI: The city nudged closer to its 100% required rain mark for July with heavy rainfall in several parts of Mumbai and adjoining areas like Thane and Navi Mumbai on Tuesday.
While the required rains for July are 840.7mm, till Tuesday evening, the India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Santacruz observatory reported 822 mm rainfall, which is almost 97.7 %. Meanwhile the city has also received over 50% of its required season’s rainfall. While the required rain mark is 2,260.4 mm, the city had logged 1,217mm (53.84%) till Tuesday. The IMD had already issued a yellow alert for Tuesday for parts of Mumbai, Thane and Palghar forecasting heavy rains at isolated places.

Heavy showers in Parel, Hindmata in Dadar, King Circle, Sion and even Dockyard led to water-logging in some places. This forced diversions in some BEST routes. Congestion was reported on the Western Express Highway and Eastern Express Highway. Traffic moved slowly on Jogeshwari Vikhroli link road. Vehicular movement was also hit near Samta Nagar, Jogeshwari and Andheri.
Weathermen expect rain intensity to pick up on Wednesday. An orange alert has been issued forecasting heavy to very heavy rains at a few places. “The west coast is likely to experience an active wet spell for three days. Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra are likely to experience enhanced rainfall from July 14-16,” according to the IMD.
K S Hosalikar, deputy director-general (western region), IMD, added radar and satellite images indicate dense clouds over Konkan (which includes Mumbai) and some interior parts. “Wednesday could see an increase in rain activity as per IMD models.”
Lakes supplying water to Mumbai have only 3.47 lakh million litres or 23.98% stocks, which is 50% less than this time last year when stocks were 6.79 lakh million litres or 47%.