IMD issues heavy rain alert for Maharashtra from July 6 to 8; 3 persons injured in Mumbai landslide

Mumbai, July 6

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a heavy rainfall alert for Maharashtra on Wednesday and the next two days, as state capital Mumbai continued to witness heavy downpour for the third consecutive day, resulting in a landslide near a chawl, water-logging at many places and traffic disruptions.

Three persons were injured in the landslide, an official said, as Mumbaikars continued to face hardship due to flooding on roads. A citizen in a tweet said they now need a boat to commute instead of a car.

A landslide also occurred on a road leading to the Pratapgad Fort in western Maharashtra’s Satara district on Wednesday following heavy rains. There was no report of any casualty and no one was trapped in the debris, the Public Works Department’s executive engineer, Sanjay Sonawane, said.

IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said an off-shore trough lies across the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast and low pressure over west Madhya Pradesh, resulting in heavy rainfall over Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The IMD has issued a ‘red alert’ for south Konkan, Goa and south central Maharashtra from July 6-8. It said heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places during this period.

It issued an ‘orange alert’ for north Konkan.

For north central Maharashtra, east Vidarbha and west Vidarbha, the IMD issued a ‘yellow alert’ for Wednesday and orange for Thursday and Friday. There was a ‘yellow alert’ for the Marathwada region, forecasting heavy rainfall on Wednesday and the next two days.

The MeT department issues four colour-coded predictions based on the prevailing weather systems. The green colour indicates no warning, yellow is to keep a watch, orange is to stay alert, while red means a warning and that action needs to be taken.

Skymet, the private weather forecasting company, said active monsoon conditions will likely continue for the next 10 days due to the development of an intense low-pressure system. It said there could be extremely heavy rains in parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and Gujarat on Thursday and Friday.

Several parts of the state have been witnessing heavy rainfall since July 4. In many parts, rivers have been flowing near the danger mark and inundating low-lying areas.

In Mumbai, a minor boy and two other persons were injured after a portion of a hill crashed on the two-storey Narayan Hadke Chawl (tenement) in Chunabhatti area around 10.30 am, a civic official said.

Three rooms in the chawl were damaged due to the landslide. As a precaution, the civic body has evacuated residents from other adjoining rooms in the chawl, he said.

The injured persons – Shubham Sonawane (15), Prakash Sonawane (40) and Surekha Virkar (20) – were immediately shifted to the nearby civic-run Sion Hospital, the official said, adding that their condition is stable.

The Central Railway and Western Railway officials said the local trains were operating normally, but some commuters claimed the suburban services were running a little late.

A spokesperson of the BEST Undertaking said their bus services were diverted on two dozen routes at six locations.

Mumbai is likely to witness another wet day as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs, with a possibility of extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places in the next 24 hours, according to civic officials.

In the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Wednesday, the island city (south Mumbai) received an average 107 mm rainfall, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 172 mm and 152 mm downpour, respectively, a civic official said.

While lakes in the city were filling up because of the incessant rains, there was no end to woes of the general public as many low-lying places like Hindmata, and areas in Dadar and Sion, including the Gandhi Market and road number 24 in Sion, were inundated, forcing pedestrians to wade through the water and making it difficult for motorists to commute.

“Flooding in Sion, Matunga, Dadar. Need a boat instead of car to commute,” a city resident tweeted.

Water-logging was reported near the Neelam Junction, Deonar, Mankhrud railway bridge, Everard Nagar, Antop Hill, Chembur, Dadar T T Junction, Hindmata junction, Sakkar Panchayat, Wadala, Kings Circle, Matunga, Kurla Kamani area and some other places, due to which traffic movement was slow, a police official said.

In view of the inundation at Dadar TT, traffic was diverted via Gokhale Road, he said.

Water-logging was also reported near the Worli end of the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, due to which the south-bound traffic was moving slow, he said.

The Khar subway was also flooded, affecting the vehicular traffic, the official said.

At the Mancherji Joshi Chowk junction in Matunga and near Asalpha bus stop in Ghatkopar, there was water-logging up to two feet and at the Crystal House area in Powai up to one feet, disrupting road traffic, he said.

In Satara, the famous Mahabaleshwar hill station witnessed heavy rains on Tuesday. It recorded 197 mm downpour in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Wednesday, a district official said.