No let-up in rain, waterlogging, traffic congestion; more showers likely

AFTER A brief respite on Sunday night, heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds continued to pound Mumbai leading to waterlogging in various places and disruptions in the suburban train system.

Mumbai recorded 235 mm rainfall in 24 hours until 8.30 am Sunday. The rainfall eased late Sunday with the city receiving 70.4 mm of rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30 am Monday.

The showers picked up the intensity in the early hours of the day again with the island city recording 6.29 mm rain, western suburbs 24.4 mm and eastern suburbs 40.57 mm rain in just four hours till Monday noon.

The showers triggered intense waterlogging in areas like Vikhroli, Bhandup, Mulund, Andheri west. The BEST diverted routes of at least six buses due to waterlogging, while in the Vikroli-Kanjurmarg section, local train services were disrupted for around 30 minutes Monday morning.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) later also upgraded its warning from an orange alert to a red alert after intense spells resumed.

“An off-shore trough at mean sea level runs from Maharashtra coast to Karnataka coast. It is likely to persist during the next 3-4 days. A cyclonic circulation lies over the south Gujarat region and neighbourhood at 3.6 km above mean sea level. A low-pressure area is likely to form over the Bay of Bengal around July 23,” the IMD said.

The two passing thunderstorms are expected to be the last such events to build up this month. However, Mumbai will remain under an active rainfall period in the next 5-6 days. IMD scientist Shubhangi Bhute said these “typical synoptic features go into making it rain heavily over a region”.

As a result of these weather systems, the entire Konkan region is on orange alert with forecast heavy to very heavy rain at few places till Friday. Mumbai falls under the north Konkan belt.

Throughout Monday, that is in nine hours ending 5.30 pm, the IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 35.2 mm rain and its Colaba counterpart 22.6 mm, most of which was recorded till noon. With seasonal rainfall standing at 1,881.4 mm, the city has recorded rainfall at about 85 per cent of the seasonal long-period average (up to September end). In this month alone, Mumbai has received 920.1 mm rain, surpassing its average normal rainfall for July. Of the total, 53 per cent was recorded in two days — July 16 and 18.