13 May,2017 12:02 PM IST | Mumbai | A Correspondent
Tree collapses and traffic snarls witnessed in Thane and Navi Mumbai, Harbour Line down as Mumabi gets its first showers; monsoon three weeks away
The scene at Kurla station where many commuters were caught in the rains. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
The first pre-monsoon rainfall drenched parts of Andheri, Juhu, Chembur and suburbs in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Dahanu yesterday, giving Mumbaikars some respite from the scorching heat. But it will be another two to three weeks more before the monsoon arrives.
Mumbaikars take shelter at Kurla station. Pic/Sneha Kharabe
Thane and Dahanu received good rains while there were light showers at Colaba. There were tree collapses at Panvel, Kamothe, Khandeshwar and a few places in Navi Mumbai.
But some Mumbaikars like these at Sion enjoyed the rains. Pic/Pradeep Dhivar
"Generally, pre-monsoon rainfall, where tall clouds are formed along with light rain, starts from the middle of May. The heat from the land gets mixed with moisture from the Arabian Sea that leads to formation of clouds," said a senior official, KS Hosalikar, from the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
Trains affected
Train services on the Central Railway (CR) were affected due to the showers, thunder and lightning as electricity couldn't be supplied - the fault in rail terminology is called as power not holding - from the overhead wires to the pantographs. The first to be hit was the Harbour line.
At around 7.40pm the stretch between Sanpada and Mankhurd stations was affected on both Up and Down lines. While services on the Up line (towards CST) began at 8.09pm, services on the Down line (towards Panvel) resumed by 8.14pm.
The technical problems shifted to the Main line (CST-Kalyan) of CR by 8pm on both fast and slow lines. The faults on the slow line between Matunga and Kurla were rectified by 8.21pm and on the fast line between Vidyavihar and Kanjurmarg by 8.22pm.
"At about 17:32 yesterday, 22 KV calico 2 feeder tripped at the Chembur station leading to a shutdown at three compact sub-stations (CSS). We immediately restored the supply at all the sub-stations by 17:35 after isolating the faulty section. There was no fault reported at Tata Power in relation to the power outage at Ghatkopar station," said a Tata Power official.
Monsoon yet to come
"Generally, monsoon reaches south India by the end of March or mid April. So far, it hasn't reached Kerala, so we will have to wait for 2-3 weeks more," said another official from IMD.
The IMD had predicted pre-monsoon showers on Friday and rains from the first week of June. Early this week, the IMD had also stated that monsoon rainfall would be above normal this year and higher than the previous forecast, citing a change in the El Nino weather condition.
