Heavy rain pounded Mumbai, causing widespread waterlogging and traffic disruption on Monday, as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued red and orange alerts across the city and suburbs. The overnight rain has badly impacted the suburban rail services and is also likely to cause delays in flight operations.
Many low-lying areas in Kurla, Sion, Dadar, and Parel were largely affected, with visuals showing vehicles moving through the waterlogged streets early today.
According to weather officials, Mumbai's Nariman Point area received 40 mm of rainfall between 6 am and 7 am today, Grant Road received 36 mm, Colaba received 31 mm of rainfall, and Byculla witnessed 21 mm of rainfall. Mumbai's eastern and western suburbs are witnessing light rainfall today, they added.
A few hours of incessant rainfall caused waterlogging in several low-lying areas of Mumbai and on railway tracks, affecting traffic on roads and local train services on Monday morning, officials said.
15 NDRF and SDRF teams deployed across Maharashtra
A total of 13 NDRF and 2 SDRF teams have been deployed in the state on Monday. 5 teams of NDRF are in Mumbai while Satara, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur have one NDRF team each. Each SDRF team is deployed in Nanded and Gadchiroli.
MMRC suspends services to Worli
Mumbai Metro operations were suspended between Acharya Atre Chowk and Worli on Monday after heavy rains inundated an underground station, officials said.
The Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) was forced to suspend the operation on the Metro line 3 after flooding was reported at the underground Acharya Atre Chowk station.
Airlines issue advisory
Air India also issued an advisory saying, "Rain and thunderstorms are impacting flight operations in Mumbai. To ensure a smooth travel experience, we encourage our passengers to check their flight status before heading to the airport."
SpiceJet in an advisory to passengers said, "Due to bad weather (heavy rain) in Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status."
Suburban train services hit
Heavy rains inundated tracks on the Central Railway network at Masjid, Byculla, Dadar, Matunga and Badlapur railway stations, slowing the movement of trains in the morning rush hours.
The forecast for Monday remains grim, with IMD predicting “generally cloudy sky with heavy rain” throughout the day. Temperatures are likely to hover between 24°C and 31°C.
IMD's Monday update
In a Monday morning update, the weather department posted on X: “Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and intense spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 50-60 kmph very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during next 3-4 hours. Take precautions while moving out.”
According to the IMD, the downpour is linked to a well-marked low-pressure system currently lying over south Madhya Maharashtra and adjacent regions of Marathwada and north interior Karnataka. The system is expected to move eastward and weaken over the next 24 hours.
Eight weather stations in Mumbai — including Borivali, Santacruz, Powai, Mulund, Chembur, Worli, Colaba and Alibag — have been placed under a red alert, indicating extremely heavy rainfall risk. Neighbouring Navi Mumbai, Thane and Kalyan have been placed on orange alert, warning of very heavy showers and gusty winds, HT reported.
As per IMD’s nowcast warnings, Raigad district is also under red alert, with forecasts suggesting intense thunderstorms and strong surface winds. Thane and Palghar districts remain on orange alert.
The IMD also noted that scattered to fairly widespread light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds is expected to continue over the Konkan region, Goa and Madhya Maharashtra between May 25 and 27.
Notably, this bout of heavy rain marks an unusually early arrival of the southwest monsoon in Maharashtra - the earliest in 35 years. As per a report by HT, the IMD confirmed that the monsoon reached the state on Sunday, days ahead of the typical schedule.
HT quoted IMD scientist Sushma Nair saying that the last such early onset occurred on May 20, 1999. This year, the monsoon’s onset in Kerala also arrived ahead of schedule on Saturday, with further advance into Maharashtra, including Mumbai, expected over the next few days.
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