Maharashtra rains: Ekanth Shinde asks officials to monitor situation; more showers in next 24 hours

Mumbai, July 05: In the wake of heavy rainfall in various parts of the state, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Tuesday directed officials to monitor the situation and keep the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) squads ready.

Shinde held a discussion with Chief Secretary Manukumar Srivastava along with directing all the related districts' guardian secretaries to stay alert and control the situation. The Chief Minister himself is in touch with the district collectors of all the districts after heavy and continous rains lashed Konkan.

The chief minister has issued orders of immediate evacuation in Raigarh, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, Kolhapur and other districts, as soon as a possible situation of floods emerges. Shinde is also keeping a watch on the situation in Mumbai.

Mumbai and its adjoining areas witnessed a heavy downpour, and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted moderate to heavy rain in Mumbai and its suburbs over the next 24 hours, with a possibility of very heavy showers at isolated places, civic officials said.

Eight BEST buses were diverted due to waterlogging in Sion and Chembur this morning, said an official. The buses which were diverted were on route numbers 341, 411, 22, 25, 312, A-357, 355 and 360.

The island city received an average 95.81 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ending at 8 am on Tuesday, while the eastern and western suburbs recorded 115.09mm and 116.73mm of rainfall, respectively, during the same period, they said.

The local train services, considered as the lifeline of Mumbai, were running normally on both the Central Railway and Western Railway routes, authorities said.

Over 75 lakh passengers from Mumbai and neighbouring districts travel in local trains every day.

"Trains on all corridors are running smoothly, though it's raining in the CSMT-Kurla-Thane section," the Central Railway's chief public relations officer Shivaji Sutar said.

The IMD has also predicted heavy to very heavy rain in neighbouring Thane district for the next few days. Meanwhile, a high tide of 4.01 metres is expected in Mumbai at 4.10pm.

On Monday, the IMD had issued a 'yellow alert' for Mumbai and Thane, predicting heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places over the next five days.