Railways, Airlines buckle up! Mumbai rains to increase ahead

The intensity of rains has now reduced in Mumbai. Although it is still cloudy, there are no heavy showers like the ones witnessed from July 7 till July 10 of this year. 3-digit rainfall was recorded in various parts of Mumbai till then, which resulted in waterlogging, floods in areas like Vasai Road, Nalasopara and Virar station. Not only this, many potholes impacted the roads which slowed down Mumbai traffic to an extreme level. Usually when there are heavy rains the worst hit are airlines and railways, whose operations slow down and many passengers face delays. However, weather forecaster has now predicted that rains to increase in this city from today onward. If this is the case, airlines like Jet Airways, Indigo, Air India, SpiceJet and Vistara might want to come up with a plan to overcome delayed flights dillemma which has been the case so far in this monsoon. Even Western and Central Railways need to be cautious during these days of heavy rains. As for passengers, they as well should rethink before travelling from airlines or trains as these both transportation are first to get affect in heavy rains.

According to Skymet Weather forecast, almost entire parts of the state have received Monsoon rainfall activity. In fact, Vidarbha region and Coastal Maharashtra recorded hefty rains. Mumbai rains also made a comeback with moderate showers.

In the last 24 hours from 8:30 am on Friday, Mahabaleshwar recorded heavy rain to the tune of 111.7 mm, Dahanu 71.7 mm, Ratnagiri 62.4 mm, Harnai 44 mm, Thane 42.8 mm, Alibag 26.1 mm, Kolhapur 22.5 mm, Mumbai (Santa Cruz) 16.1 mm, Satara 13 mm, Aurangabad 10.2 mm, Gondia 9.4 mm, Chandrapur 4.6 mm and Amravati 2 mm of rains.

The forecaster further explained that, an offshore trough extending from Karnataka to Kerala is likely to gain strength and move towards the north. Therefore, Monsoon rainfall activity is expected to increase in intensity along the coastal regions of Maharashtra. Rain in Mumbai will also intensify and moderate to heavy rains are expected. The low lying regions may also witness waterlogging.

As on July 13, Maharashtra is rain surplus by 5%.