Incessant rains in Mumbai; IMD forecasts heavy to very heavy showers

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and suburbs in the last 24 hours with some areas receiving extremely heavy showers, officials said on Thursday.

The city witnessed incessant rainfall since Thursday morning, but there was no report of any major waterlogging in low-lying areas, they said.

The India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre has predicted "heavy to very heavy rain" in the city on Thursday.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared a holiday for all government and private schools and colleges here on Thursday after the IMD issued a 'red' alert for the metropolis.

"The BMC requests all citizens to stay alert, remain indoors and kindly follow instructions from the administration," Mumbai civic commissioner and administrator Iqbal Singh Chahal said on Wednesday night.

The Colaba observatory (representative of the island city) recorded "extremely heavy" rainfall at 223.2 mm, while the Santacruz observatory (representative of suburbs) recorded 145.1 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Thursday, according to the IMD Mumbai.

Besides, the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus recorded 153.5 mm downpour, Ram Mandir area 161 mm, Byculla 119 mm, Sion 112 mm and Bandra 106 mm in the last 24 hours, IMD officials said.

"Colaba has recorded extremely heavy rainfall," an IMD official said, adding Mumbai received heavy to very heavy downpour with isolated extremely heavy showers in the last one day.

According to BMC officials, there was a high tide of 3.31 meters at 6.38 am on Thursday and the next high tide of 3.32 meters will be at 5.58 pm.

A civic official said the weather bureau has predicted "heavy to very heavy rain in the city and suburbs with a possibility of occasional gusty winds reaching 45-55 kmph" in the next 24 hours.

The city witnessed incessant rainfall since morning, but there was no report of any major waterlogging in low-lying areas, another civic official said. However, traffic slowed down due to the rain and potholes on roads.

The Western Railway and Central Railway in their social media posts said the suburban services were normal, but some passengers claimed the trains were running at least 10-15 minutes late.

A spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking said there was no bus route diversion anywhere in the city.