Red Alert Issued for Mumbai Today; Yellow for Next 4 Days as IMD Warns of Heavy to Very Heavy Rainfall

A red alert has been issued for Mumbai on Wednesday and a yellow alert for the next 4 days as the city is likely to receive ‘heavy to very heavy rainfall’ for the coming days, said IMD Mumbai. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued a red alert for neighbouring Thane, Palghar and Raigad districts, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places there during the day.

The IMD classifies minimum 204.5 mm rainfall in 24 hours as ‘extremely heavy’. A red alert requires authorities to take preventive steps to minimise damage. The IMD has also predicted isolated ‘extremely heavy’ rainfall over Konkan and Goa for next 5 days.

The first rain of this year’s monsoon season in Mumbai has caused water-logging in various parts of the city, prompting the traffic police to shut four subways and forcing motorists to abandon their vehicles on roads. The city police appealed to Mumbaikars not to step out of their homes unnecessarily and cautioned them against travelling to some of the inundated areas.

While there were fewer vehicles on the city roads amid the downpour, motorcyclists and other two-wheeler riders were unable to manoeuvre their vehicles at some of the flooded places. The traffic police closed Milan, Khar, Andheri and Malad subways for motorists due to water-logging at these places.

Local train services from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji MaharajTerminus (CSMT) to neighbouring Thane and Vashi in Navi Mumbai were suspended due to water-logging on some railway tracks, officials said. Routes of some BEST buses run the city civic body’s transport wing were also diverted, they said.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray directed the administration to ensure that the accumulated rainwater is drained out at the earliest and transport resumed. Thackeray spoke to the control rooms in Mumbai and collectors of Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Palghar districts as incessant rains led to the inundation of several areas, affecting the normal life.

Thackeray had chaired a meeting of the disaster management authority and directed authorities to be prepared to tackle any eventuality given the prediction of heavy rains.

(With PTI inputs)

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