Heavy rain in India's Mumbai; Flight ops hit, schools & colleges shut

MUMBAI, Aug 18: The IMD issued a 'red alert', predicting extremely heavy rains at isolated places in Mumbai and neighbouring areas on Monday, prompting the city civic body to declare a holiday for all schools and colleges, officials said.

A Mumbai airport spokesperson said nine flights conducted "go arounds" before finally landing, while one flight was diverted to Surat (in Gujarat) till 12 noon due to the heavy rains.

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appealed to residents to step out only if necessary, and the IMD asked fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea.

Roads in several areas of Mumbai got inundated after the downpour for the third consecutive day on Monday, with officials attributing the heavy showers to a low-pressure area formed over the Bay of Bengal, coupled with cyclonic circulations.

Some low-lying areas like the Andheri Subway and Lokhandwala Complex witnessed water accumulation at a few locations, affecting traffic movement.

Local trains, considered as the lifeline of the metropolis, were running late by 8 to 10 minutes, but there was no suspension of services, according to officials.

The suburban services on the Central Railway route were affected as water accumulated on tracks in a few low-lying areas on the Harbour Line, and due to the failure of track changing points between Kurla and Tilak Nagar stations, as per the officials.

The blinding rain in some parts of the city affected visibility and slowed down vehicular movement, as per motorists.

There was no diversion of any routes of bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking, the officials said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Mumbai, and neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts, forecasting heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy showers at isolated locations on Monday and Tuesday.

It also issued a red alert for Ratnagiri district on Monday, and an orange alert for Sindhudurg on Monday and Tuesday.

BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani announced that all educational institutions would remain shut for the afternoon session, citing the safety of students amid continuous downpour since morning.

The civic body, in a statement, appealed to the people to step out only if necessary.

It also appealed to residents to contact its disaster control helpline 1916 in case of emergencies or for official updates.

"A low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and formation of the east-west shear zone along with cyclonic circulation have combinedly to result in Maharashtra's coastal areas, including Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts, receiving heavy rainfall. The IMD has issued red alerts for these districts for today and tomorrow," IMD's Mumbai Regional Meteorological Centre head Shubhangi Bhute said.

"We have also issued a warning for fishermen not to venture into the sea. We have issued a red alert for Palghar district also for Tuesday," she said.

Heavy rains have been lashing Mumbai since Saturday.

After the heavy downpour overnight on Monday, the rain intensity further increased from 9 am, a civic official said.

The island city, eastern and western suburbs recorded an average rainfall of 37 mm, 39 mm and 29 mm, respectively, in just one hour from 9 am.

Chembur in the eastern suburbs recorded the highest rainfall of 65 mm, followed by 50 mm in Shivaji Nagar in the one-hour period, the official said.

In the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Monday, the island city recorded an average rainfall of 54.58 mm, the eastern suburbs received 72.61 mm, while the western suburbs recorded 65.86 mm of rain, according to officials.

Several areas recorded more than 100 mm of rainfall during the period, they said.