Mumbai came to a standstill on Wednesday as torrential rains lashed the city.
Most of the schools were shut in Mumbai and the ones that were operational have issued a notification to the parents regarding early closures. Mumbai Police has also issued a notification intimating the public about heavy rains for the next two days.
Cases of immense water-logging, traffic jams and slowing down of trains during the morning have come up in large numbers. The Met office has warned of heavy rain in the city today and tomorrow.
As per a statement, the BMC has issued a notification that states, “in wake of IMD’s warning of heavy rainfall for rest of the day, schools shall remain closed today. Principals of schools where students are already in, are requested to take precautions and ensure that they are sent back home carefully and safely.”
The rains started Monday night and have since continued without any signs of stopping. The weather bureau has predicted heavy rain with intermittent spells of very heavy rain in isolated areas for the next four days.
South Mumbai recorded more rain than the suburbs, with the Colaba weather observatory recording 122mm while Santacruz recorded 118.3mm during this time. Other areas with high recordings were – Thane 173mm, Palghar 192mm, Dahanu 100.1mm, Harnai 115.3mm, Alibaug 93mm. Most other areas within the Mumbai Metropolitan Region recorded rainfall above 100mm over the last 24 hours.
Traffic snarls literally halted the city. According to traffic police on the Western Express Highway traffic jam was reported from Carnival Cinema at Borivali east till the JVLR junction.
The movement of local trains slowed down due to water logging in the tracks at various locations. Poor visibility was another reason for the delay in train timings.
According to IMD, the reason for the heavy rainfall is due to a low-pressure area over the Odisha coast which has intensified monsoon conditions along the west coast combined with two cyclonic circulations – one over northeast Arabian Sea and one over central India. The easy west wind sheer is further enhancing westerly winds leading to heavy rain.
Mumbai has so far recorded 2,865.3mm rain since the beginning of the season and the weather bureau expects the city will surpass the 3,000mm mark by the end of the week.