Mumbai Witnesses Fourth-Highest Spell of Rain over 24-Hour Period

Mumbai: Mumbai received one of the heaviest showers of the monsoon season over the past 24 hours

with more rainfall likely in the city and its suburbs on Wednesday, MeT officials told PTI.

Heavy overnight showers and rain in the early hours of Wednesday morning caused waterlogging at many places in the metropolis, disrupting rail and road traffic.

Rains across the island city and its western suburbs picked up late on Tuesday evening. There were intense spells of rainfall across Mumbai for a few hours overnight, an official said.

“Mumbai received one of the highest (spells of) rainfall in the last 24 hours,” India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre Deputy Director General K.S. Hosalikar said.

The city and its suburbs are likely to receive heavy showers on Wednesday too, he added.

The Santacruz observatory (in the western suburbs) received 286.4 mm showers during the 24-hour period ending at 8:30 am on Wednesday – the fourth highest rainfall in Mumbai’s history – another IMD official said.

The Colaba observatory (in south Mumbai) recorded 147.8 mm rainfall during the same period.

As per IMD Mumbai's record of rainfall as seen from the Santacruz observatory since 1974, it reported 318.2 mm rainfall over 24 hours on September 23, 1981, 312.4 mm rainfall on September 23, 1993 and 303.7 mm of rainfall on September 20, 2017.

“Today's rainfall measuring 286.4 mm is the fourth highest between 1974 and 2020,” the official said.

According to the IMD, rainfall recorded below 15 mm is considered light, between 15 and 64.5 mm is moderate and above 64.5 mm is designated as heavy.

Several parts of Mumbai received more than 120 mm rainfall over the last 24 hours, the MeT department said. The Ram Mandir area received 298 mm rainfall, while Dahisar received 190 mm rainfall during the period.

“Most of the rainfall in Mumbai was received after late Tuesday night,” the official told the news agency.

In neighbouring Navi Mumbai, the Diwale area received 304 mm of rain, Nerul – 301.7 mm, CBD Belapur – 279.8 mm, Sanpada – 185.1 mm, Vashi – 179.5 mm and Ghansoli – 136.9 mm in the last 24 hours.

In the neighbouring Thane city, the Kopri area received 195.3 mm of rain, Chirak Nagar – 136.5 mm and the Dhokali area received 127 mm during the same period.

Since June 1 this year, the Santacruz observatory has so far recorded 3,571.1 mm of downpour, while the Colaba observatory has recorded 3,147.3 mm of rainfall during the period, the official said.

The Bombay High Court on Wednesday suspended its hearings scheduled for the day, including all virtual hearings, in view of the heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs.

A Central Railway spokesperson said suburban services were suspended at 5 am on Wednesday following heavy rains along the tracks.

“Due to heavy rain and waterlogging in Sion-Kurla and Chunabhatti-Kurla, traffic has been suspended on CSMT-Thane and CSMT-Vashi sections for safety reasons,” he said.

Special shuttle services are being run between Thane- Kasara, Thane-Karjat and Vashi-Panvel stations, while several long distance trains have been rescheduled, he said.

The Western Railway also said its suburban train service has been suspended due to heavy rain and water logging between Churchgate-Andheri stations.

“Suburban locals service is running normally between Andheri and Virar,” it tweeted.

Suburban trains, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, are being operated for essential services employees due to the COVID-19 outbreak and common citizens are not authorised to travel in them as of now.

Mumbai's municipal commissioner Iqbal Singh Chahal has asked that all offices and establishments in the city, barring essential services, be shut on Wednesday due to the downpour. A Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) release said Chahal has also appealed Mumbaikars not to step out of their homes unless it is an emergency.