Finally three days after the onset of the south-west monsoon was officially been announced in Maharashtra, rains finally lashed the city on Friday.Many parts of Mumbai started receiving heavy rains this morning after a long dry spell. The rains led to massive traffic jams in different areas of Mumbai and its suburbs, and also reportedly hit flight operations at the airport. A number of trains were also reported to be running late.
In Vashi area of Navi Mumbai, the rain started at around 9 am, leading to waterlogged roads. As Vashi is a low-lying area, it time and again faces waterlogging issues during rains.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation also issued an alert on its official handle on microblogging site Twitter warning of heavy rainfall throughout the day in Mumbai city and suburban areas. The BMC shared a warning by the IMD, which read, “Loud peals of thunder with frequent lightning flashes, moderate to heavy spell of rain and maximum wind speed 29 to 74 kmph – in gusts.”
The IMD also warned of “intense spell of rainfall” in Greater Mumbai and adjoining areas of Thane and Palghar on Friday.
Weather department forecasts heavy rains and thunderstorms are likely to continue in Mumbai on Friday as well as Saturday.
BMC had cautioned Mumbaikars against opening manholes on thursday. An open manhole had led to the death of a Mumbai-based doctor during rains in 2017. Dr Deepak Amarapurkar, a well-known gastroenterologist, had died after falling into an open manhole while walking down a flooded street in south Mumbai during the torrential rain on August 29, 2017.
An advisory released by the BMC on Thursday said, “The BMC has fixed protective grills in flooding-prone areas per Bombay High Court directives….Banners are also displayed at various flooding locations to appeal the citizens not to open manholes and inform BMC office if any manhole cover is found missing.”
At this time, the minimum and maximum temperatures of the city are hovering at 24 degree Celsius and 31 degree Celsius, respectively, with relative humidity around 88 per cent..
Large parts of India, meanwhile, remain parched as people desperately await overdue monsoon rains.
