Mumbai saw its wettest 24 hours in July in four years, with 184mm of rain recorded till Tuesday morning. There appears to be no respite from inclement weather, with the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting similar conditions through the week.
Reports of rain-related disruptions came in from across the city: a woman was injured when a tree fell on her in Kandivali, a fire was reported in Dadar without casualties and schools remained closed in Thane. In the city, principals were asked to decide by the government.
The IMD’s Santacruz observatory recorded 184 mm rainfall till 8.30 a.m., while the one at Colaba registered 165.8 mm. At 8.30 p.m., 111.2mm and 39.4mm were recorded by the Santacruz and Colaba observatories respectively.
On July 3, 2014, the city received 207.2mm of rain, while 215.6mm was recorded on July 24, 2013. The record for July is still July 27, 2005, the day of the Mumbai deluge when 944mm of rain was recorded.
The IMD issued a special bulletin that warned of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places in the city on Wednesday, while Thane and Palghar could get extremely heavy rain at isolated places.
Tuesday also saw the season’s highest rainfall till date. The city has received 1,547 mm, or 62% of its annual average rainfall. Water levels of the seven lakes that supply the city didn’t rise noticeably, though heavy rainfall had caused Tulsi lake to overflow on Sunday. Vihar lake is close to the maximum mark with the area receiving more than 200mm of rain on Monday. Mumbai’s water stock now stands at 5.64 lakh million litres, and its annual requirement is 14.47 lakh million litres.
Data from BMC’s Automatic Weather Stations said Matunga received 322mm, followed by Wadala (319mm) and Worli (301mm) between 8 a.m. on Monday and noon on Tuesday. In all, 66 spots were waterlogged, including Hindmata junction, Parel TT, Gandhi market, NM Joshi Marg, RA Kidwai Marg and Milan Subway. On Monday and Tuesday, BMC pumped out 7,824 million litres of water through five pumping stations.
Power supply hit
Power supply to Vasai and Virar was disrupted for over 12 hours. Jagdish Patil, Commissioner, MSEB (Konkan region), said several substations were submerged and power supply was discontinued as a precautionary measure, and will be restored once the water recedes. “Power was cut in the morning and it hasn't yet returned. It has caused great difficulty as shops in the region have also shut,” said Virar resident Vijay Mahale.
Woman injured as tree falls on her
A woman was injured when a tree fell on her in Charkop around 5:55 p.m in Sector 4, near Saraswat Bank. Pooja Pawaskar (40) was initially taken to Phoenix Hospital. ”She had sustained injuries to her head and right arm when she was brought in, but she was conscious. Her head was swollen and she had contusions and minor fractures in her right arm, an X-ray showed,” Dr. Sanjay Patel at Pheonix hospital said. She was treated in the OPD and transferred to Ashutosh Nursing Home upon her request
A fire broke out in Atlantic building opposite Indiabulls in Dadar (W) around 2 p.m. It was categorised as a Level 2 (minor) blaze and doused at 3.35 p.m.
