Mumbai rains: Suburbs get over 280 mm rain in 24 hours; IMD warns of ‘very intense rainfall’

Mumbai, Sep 23: Mumbai received one of the highest showers in the last 24 hours of this monsoon season and more rainfall is likely in the city and suburbs on Wednesday, MeT officials said.

Heavy showers overnight and early Wednesday morning caused waterlogging at many places in the metropolis, disrupting rail and road traffic. Rains across the island city and the western suburbs picked up late Tuesday evening. There were intense spells across Mumbai for a few hours overnight, an official said.

"Mumbai received one of the highest rainfall in the last 24 hours," India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai centre Deputy Director General K S Hosalikar said. The city and suburbs are likely to receive heavy showers on Wednesday also, he added.

The Santacruz observatory (in western suburbs) received 286.4 mm showers during the 24-hour period ending at 8.30 am on Wednesday, which is the fourth highest rainfall in the Maharashtra capital'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 Santacruz observatory since 1974, it reported 318.2 mm rainfall in 24 hours on September 23, 1981, 312.4 mm rainfall on September 23, 1993 and 303.7 mm rainfall on September 20, 2017.

"Today's rainfall of 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 heavy. Several parts of Mumbai received more than 120 mm rainfall in 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 said.

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

Besides, in neighbouring Thane city, Kopri area received 195.3 mm rain, Chirak Nagar-136.5 mm and Dhokali area got 127 mm during the same period. Since June 1 this year, the Santacruz observatory has so far recorded 3,571.1 mm downpour, while the Colaba observatory has recorded 3,147.3 mm rainfall during the period, the official said. PTI ND GK GK