Heavy Rain In Mumbai, Local Trains Delayed, Traffic Chaos Amid Red Alert

Incessant rains and water-logging slowed down traffic in Mumbai on Monday morning, with the IMD issuing a 'red alert', predicting very heavy showers in the city and neighbouring areas over the next few hours.

After heavy rains overnight and in the morning, commuters complained of water accumulation on tracks at Dadar, Kurla and Bandra railway stations, and local trains running late by 10 to 15 minutes.

Spokespersons of the Western Railway and the Central Railway, however, said their suburban services were running normally, despite continuous rainfall since last night.

The heavy downpour, which began around midnight with lightning and thunder, continued in the morning, leading to inundation of low-lying areas like King's Circle, Lalbaug, Worli, Dadar, Parel, Kurla and other areas.

The water-filled potholes further worsened the road traffic conditions.

In a nowcast warning issued at 8.30 am, the civic body said the weatherman has predicted intense to very intense spells of rain and thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds reaching 30-40 kmph in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane and Raigad districts for the next three hours.

"A red alert has been issued for Mumbai, Thane and Ratnagiri districts, applicable till 11.30 am on Monday," a senior IMD Mumbai official said, adding they were keeping a close watch on the weather conditions and further updates will be provided.

For the next 24 hours, the IMD has predicted "cloudy sky with heavy to very heavy rain" at isolated places in the city and suburbs with a possibility of thunder and lightning, besides gusty winds at a speed of 30-40 kmph, a civic official said.

In the last 24 hours, the Colaba observatory in south Mumbai recorded 134.4 mm rainfall, while the Santacruz observatory in the suburbs registered 73.2 mm downpour.

As per the civic body's rainfall data, the island city recorded an average rainfall of 111.19 mm, followed by 76.46 mm in the eastern suburbs and 74.15 mm in the western suburbs in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Monday.

The IMD has also issued an 'orange alert' for Palghar, Pune, Ahilyanagar and Beed districts, forecasting heavy rains there, while the rest of Maharashtra is expected to receive light showers or remain dry. 

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