Mumbai remained under the brunt of heavy rains on Friday, with several areas recording more than 70mm of rain in just five hours, with the India Meteorological Department predicting “heavy to very heavy” rain in the next 24 hours and placing the city under red alert on Saturday and Sunday.
The International Meteorological Department has warned of more intense rainfall in the next 24 hours and has placed Mumbai, Thane and Palghar under red alert on Saturday and Sunday.
According to the Meteorological Department’s zonal forecast released on Friday afternoon, Mumbai is likely to receive heavy to very heavy rains at a few places, with scattered spells of very heavy rains on July 4 and 5.
The forecast is rated as “very likely.”
Read also | Parts of Mumbai receive heavy rains as IMD puts city under ‘orange alert’
‘Heavy to very heavy’ rain in Mumbai
The IMD forecast “heavy to very heavy” rain in Mumbai and its suburbs during the next 24 hours, accompanied by gusty winds reaching speeds of 50-60 km per hour.
According to civic officials, several parts of the city recorded more than 70 mm of rain in just five hours. The highest rainfall of 73.8 mm was recorded at Supari Tank Municipal School in Bandra, followed by 72.2 mm in Prabhadevi, 70.8 mm in Bandra West and 69.4 mm in Parel.
Since Friday morning, the city has been witnessing heavy rains, with heavy rain falling at times, which has flooded many low-lying areas.
While authorities said metro, suburban train and BEST bus services were operating normally, commuters reported traffic jams and delays on the local rail network.
Read also | Mumbai records rainfall of more than 204 mm in the last 24 hours; IMD issues ‘Orange Alert’
The intensity of the rain increased
Mumbai has also been witnessing heavy rain since around midnight on Thursday. Officials said low-lying areas such as Dadar, Andheri, Goregaon and Parel witnessed waterlogging, though the accumulated water had receded by Friday morning, PTI reported.
The intensity of rainfall decreased during the early morning hours before it increased again after eight in the morning in several parts of the city.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), Mumbai recorded more than 100 mm rainfall during a 24-hour period that ended at 8 am on Friday. The report added that the island city witnessed an average rainfall of 126 mm, while the eastern suburbs recorded 110 mm and the western suburbs recorded 114 mm.
The highest rainfall during a 24-hour period was recorded in Bandar Valley with 150.2 mm, followed by Malabar Hill with 145.8 mm and Sandhurst Road with 140.8 mm.
In the western suburbs, the rain gauge at Malba Dongari Municipal School in Andheri recorded 136.6 mm of rain, while Powai received 124 mm, the highest in the eastern suburbs, the BMC said.
Amid heavy rain, a man died after falling into a ditch in Chandivali in the western suburbs on Thursday, the second rain-related death this week. Earlier on Tuesday, an 11-year-old boy was killed after a tree fell on his school bus in the eastern suburb of Chembur.
(Inputs from PTI, ANI)
