With the southwest monsoon arriving 16 days in advance, incessant and heavy downpour on Monday threw Mumbai out of gear yet again.
The Maharashtra government and the BMC, the richest civic body in the country, came under severe criticism of citizens as videos and pictures of waterlogged city went viral.
The record-breaking rainfall in May, surpassing a 107-year record, caused widespread waterlogging across the city and MMR region disrupting transport infrastructure. Earlier, the annual monsoon made its arrival on 29 May in 1956, 1962 and 1971 and on 31 May in 1990 and 2006.
In an incident in the posh Kemps Corner area in South Mumbai, a part of a road at the intersection of Breach Candy, Warden Road, Peddar Road and Napean Sea Road collapsed.
Operations on the newly inaugurated Aqua Line Metro line 3 had to be suspended after heavy rains inundated its underground station. This incident happened due to the collapse of a water-retaining wall caused by sudden water inflow from a sewerage drain. Videos of underground station flooded with water went viral on social media.
Flooding in Badlapur, Matunga, Dadar, Masjid and Byculla affected the Central Line and Harbour Line services. "High tide conditions are exacerbating the situation by causing significant waterlogging on railway lines throughout the area," said Central Railways.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport advised all passangers to check their flight status and with their respective airlines and to leave earlier due to inclement weather and forecast for heavy rains .
Gusty winds and heavy rainfall since Sunday evening led to several areas recording over 200 mm of rain by 11 on Monday morning:
Nariman Point Fire Station: 252.20 mm
Ward Municipal Head Office: 215.60 mm
Colaba Pumping Station: 207.25 mm
Colaba Fire Station: 202.94 mm
Eye Hospital, Grant Road: 202.60 mm
Memonwada Fire Station: 182.8 mm
C Ward Office: 180.07 mm
Malabar Hill: 136.65 mm
Dadar Fire Station: 103.35
By evening , the Colaba observatory registered 295 mm rainfall exceeding the 1918 record.
Heavy rainfall in Navi Mumbai since the Sunday night lead the NMMC to keep the municipal machinery on alert mode. Navi Mumbai Municipal comissioner Kailas Shinde directed departmental heads and officers to their respective areas for relief work.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) deployed special teams to Baramati and Indapur tehsils in Maharashtra's Pune after torrential rain battered the areas on Sunday. Officials said Baramati tehsil received 83.6 millimetres of rain during the day, while the figure was 35.7 mm for Indapur.
The weather department has forecast thunderstorms and moderate rainfall in several places in Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia Yavatmal and Gadchiroli districts in Maharashtra’s Vidarbha region.
As per the Regional Meteorological Centre, Nagpur, thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 30-40 kmph) and light to moderate rainfall are likely at isolated places over Akola, Amravati, Wardha, Nagpur, Bhandara, Gondia Yavatmal and Gadchiroli districts of Vidarbha in the next few hours.
The weather department has issued a ‘yellow’ alert in parts of Nagpur, Wardha, Bhandara, Gondia, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, Amravati, Akola, Yavatmal, Buldhana and Washim for the next four days.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued multi weather hazard weather alert for several parts across the country. Mumbai, Kerala, Delhi and Tamil Nadu have all received rainfall over the past couple of days.
The Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services (INCOIS) had sounded a high wave alert along the coasts of north and south Goa, north and south Karnataka, Maharashtra and Kerala calling for suspension of nearshore recreation activities on Monday.
Wave heights are expected to surge up to 4.3 metres from the Monday evening till 8.30 p.m Tuesday. Small vessels were advised not to ply during this time.
