Heavy showers in Mumbai; MeT predicts more downpour

Mumbai, Sep 1: With heavy rains lashing the city for second consecutive day on Monday, the MeT department has predicted that the monsoon is likely to get stronger in Mumbai where heavy downpour is expected over the next 48 hours.

"We have issued an alert of heavy rainfall in Mumbai and very heavy rainfall in Central Maharashtra and Konkan region over the next 48 hours," V K Rajeev, Director General of Regional Meteorological Centre at Mumbai, told PTI. Strong south westerly winds, a low-pressure area formed in the Vidarbha region, and an offshore trough running from North Maharashtra coast to Kerala coast have contributed to the activation of monsoon in the state, he said.

Meanwhile, waterlogging due to heavy rainfall, that continued to lash the city for the second day in the row, caused traffic snarls in several low-lying areas.

There was waterlogging in areas like Dadar, Parel, Sion, Kurla, Ghatkopar and the Western Express Highway which caused some disruptions in vehicular traffic along the stretches in the morning. There is still slow traffic movement near Mulund on the Eastern Express Highway," an official of the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai said.

According to MeT records, the southern part of the city received 60.1 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours, while suburban Mumbai received 115.8 mm rainfall.

The Vihar lake in north Mumbai has crossed overflow mark of 80.12 metres, making it the fifth lake to spill over. Water in seven major lakes -— the main suppliers to the city - as of today is 13.97 lakh million litres compared to 12,59,577 lakh million litres last year.

PTI