Heavy spells of rain likely today, says IMD

Mumbai: Mumbai and surrounding areas received moderate to heavy showers on Sunday while the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy spells of rain in the city on Monday. The Colaba and Santacruz observatories received 66 mm and 119 mm of rainfall respectively in the last 24 hours.

The IMD on Thursday stated that Mumbai had crossed the seasonal rainfall mark — 3,000 mm. Not only the city but also Thane district has recorded more than its usual share of season rainfall this year.

The average rainfall that Thane district receives from June 1 to October 31 is 2,450 mm, while the district has already received 3,575 mm between June 1 and September 8 this year.

The district — which includes Thane city, Kalyan, Ulhasnagar, Ambernath, Bhiwandi, Shahapur and Murbad — had received 2,480 mm rainfall last year till September 8, according to the Thane collector’s office.

Till September 8 this year, Ulhasnagar and Shahpur had received the highest amount of rainfall in Thane district (both 2,556 mm) followed by Thane city (2,468 mm), Kalyan (2,454 mm), Bhiwandi (2,421 mm), Ambernath (2,364 mm) and Murbad (2,328 mm).  

The average rainfall recorded by the Colaba observatory every year is 2,203 mm and Santacruz observatory is 2,514 mm. However, the city this year has already crossed the average rainfall mark and till the morning of September 8, the Colaba and Santacruz observatories recorded 2,325 mm and 3,265 mm respectively.

On the same day last year, the Colaba and Santacruz observatories had recorded 1,732 mm and 2,194 mm rainfall respectively.

Meanwhile, heavy rains in Maharashtra’s Gadchiroli district since the last five days have inundated part of Bhamragad tehsil, with 120 villages under it losing contact with the district administration, a revenue official said on Sunday.

According to the official, more than 500 people have been shifted to safer places. Bhamragad is located on the right banks of a confluence of Indravati River, a tributary of Godavari river, the Pearl Kota, and the Pamul Gautami in east Maharashtra bordering Chhattisgarh and Telangana.

As per the latest information, 11 tehsils in the district, except Bhamragad, are out of the flood situation.

No casualties have been reported as yet though two persons are missing from Aramori and Chamorshi tehsils, he said.