Rains to Ease up in Next 24 Hours but IMD Warnings Still in Place

Torrential rains lash Mumbai, IMD says intensity likely to decrease in next 24 hours but warnings remain in place

People commute through a water-logged road street after rains in Mumbai

(Photo: Reuters)

After being lashed by heavy rains all night, Mumbai is likely to receive some respite in the next 24 hours. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast, Mumbai will receive intermittent showers for the next 24 hours; however, warnings continue to remain in place for Mumbai and the Konkan region.

Mumbai’s Colaba recorded 210 mm rainfall, while Santacruz recorded 303 mm. That comes under heavy to very heavy and extremely heavy rainfall category as well. As for the forecast of the next 24 hours, we have said that Mumbai is likely to receive intermittent showers but the warnings are still definitely in place for Mumbai. 

Krishnanand Hosalikar, Deputy Director General of IMD

“For Konkan also, the warnings will be in place but it will be one step lower because the situation seems to be improving,” said Hosalikar.

Also Read: Mumbai Rains Live: Over 50 Flights Cancelled Due to Runway Closure

With torrential rains lashing the city for over 19 hours, both the observatories in Colaba and Santacruz saw record breaking rainfall in a span of 12 hours. While Santacruz recorded 303 mm of rain, Colaba witnessed 210 mm. Several low areas were waterlogged due to heavy rains causing disruption in road, rail, and air traffic.

Local trains on Central, Harbour, and Western line have been running late. In some cases, trains have been delayed by at least 15 minutes. To provide some relief to commuters, Western Railway instructed all their catering stalls to stock up sufficient food and remain open.

Late on 19 September night, a SpiceJet Boeing 737 aircraft carrying 183 people overshot a wet runway while landing at the Mumbai airport, causing disruption in air traffic. Around 15 flights have been cancelled and 56 diverted to different airports as the main runway is yet to be cleared. Efforts are on to tow away the flight from the runway.

Mumbai’s adjoining areas like Dahanu and Thane too were lashed by heavy rains.

The adjoining station of Dahanu in the North of Mumbai, recorded 305 mm and also Bhira recorded 137 mm. Thane, which is adjoining to Mumbai, recorded 151 mm of rainfall. If you go towards the South of Mumbai, that is South Konkan and Raigad district, most stations have recorded heavy to very heavy rain and two stations have recorded extremely heavy rainfall also. Mahabaleshwar recorded 248 mm, Kolhapur recorded 93 mm. 

Krishnanand Hosalikar

Hosalikar said that in the last 24 hours, Madhya Maharashtra and Konkan experienced heavy to very heavy rainfall and at a few places, extremely heavy rainfall was recorded.

Just days after the BMC released a report on the 29 August deluge, blaming the IMD for not issuing a warning on time, the IMD Deputy Director has made it clear that they have been constantly interacting with the civic body.

Hosalikar said that they work hand in hand with the BMC, not just during torrential rains but everyday.

We have a hotline connection with the MCGM office and our control room. Both the control rooms are connected to the hotline. The data transfer does happen and we also get their data because the BMC also has a very good network for rainfall monitoring in Mumbai. That also helps us and we too have around 30 automatic weather stations in Mumbai. Data exchange takes place over fax, phone, email, special bulletins and even through social media like WhatsApp.

Hosalikar concluded that the IMD communicated not only with the BMC but also with the State Government Disaster Management.