Mumbai rains - Monday forecast: Wet weekend over, but brace for more rains

Fire Brigade personnel inspect a tree that fell on a car in Fort. Pic/Bipin Kokate

The city and suburbs saw yet another wet weekend and several places reported more than 90mm of rainfall by late afternoon on Sunday. While Colaba recorded 123.6 mm rainfall, Santacruz recorded 46.4mm and Thane recorded 163mm rainfall till Sunday evening.

With the downpour steady throughout Sunday, waterlogging and potholes continued to be a menace in several parts of Mumbai, Thane and Navi Mumbai. A tree crashed on a car in Fort. Fortunately there were no casualties.

There were traffic diversions at Hindmata, Sion and Matunga. While BEST diverted routes of 66 buses, trains on the Western and Central lines were running slightly behind schedule. The BEST routes were restored by 9 pm. The domestic and international flight operations were smooth.

Waterlogged again
Hindmata, Parel TT, Gandhi Market, Sion, Antop Hill, Kurla, Vikhroli, Khar, Bandra, LBS Marg, Goregaon, Bandra, Milan Subway, BKC saw flooding on Sunday. A total of 111 dewatering pumps were deployed through the city and suburbs to pump out water and clear the roads for traffic. At Hindmata, waterlogging under the flyover led to the shutting down of the stretch upto Parel, moving the traffic onto the bridge. Sion and Matunga saw diversions too. "As it was Sunday, there was not much traffic and everything was under control," said a traffic police official.

Fishermen cautioned
With the sea likely to remain rough due to westerly waves, the IMD kept its warning steady for fishermen on the Maharashtra-Goa coast. They have been advised not to venture into coastal areas and the open sea for the next 24 hours.

Be prepared for more
The city is set to receive more rainfall in the next 24 to 48 hours. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted continuous rain with heavy to very heavy fall in few places and extremely heavy fall in one or two places in the city and suburbs. Skymet Weather too, has predicted moderate to heavy rainfall in Mumbai, with intense showers on Tuesday.

"Moderate to heavy showers will continue. Our models are indicating more rainfall on June 10. The trough is seen from south Gujarat to Kerala. Cyclonic circulation is also seen over north coastal Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Thane, Dahanu and south Gujarat. These areas will receive heavy to moderate showers for the next three days, after which the rainfall is expected to reduce," explained Mahesh Palawat, chief meteorologist, Skymet Weather.