Heavy rain lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Friday morning, leading to instances of waterlogging in low-lying areas. The downpour caused significant disruptions across the city, also crippling traffic flow as well as affecting flight operations.
Heavy rain is expected to continue as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert for the city for Friday and Saturday. The unfavourable weather conditions persist as the city prepares for the wedding of Anant Ambani and Radhika Merchant today, which will see numerous dignitaries from across the world.
Intense spells of rain are very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during the next 3-4 hours, the IMD said in its forecast at 8.30 am. A high tide of 3.8 meters is also expected around 4 pm.
A dense blanket of clouds also shrouded Mumbai, significantly reducing visibility in many areas of the city. This also affected the flight services from Mumbai Airport.
Flights affected: The rain affected flight operations in Mumbai and airlines advised passengers to check updated flight status.
"Flights are impacted due to heavy rains and air traffic congestion in #Mumbai. Do keep a tab on the flight status http://bit.ly/3DNYJqj. Wishing you happy and safe travels!," IndiGo Airlines said.
Streets waterlogged: Waterlogging was reported from areas like Chembur, P D'Mello Road, APMC Market and Turbhe Mafco Market, King's Circle, among other locations. People were seen wading through knee-deep water at these locations.
Traffic movement disrupted: Road traffic movement was also hit by waterlogging and low visibility in many areas. Traffic jams were reported on key highways in the city.
However, train services are running as per schedule.
In the past 24 hours, the city witnessed an average rain of 93.16 mm, while the Eastern Suburbs reported 66.03 mm and the Western Suburbs reported 78.93 mm.
HEAVY RAIN TO CONTINUE
The IMD's latest forecast predicts that the city and suburbs are likely to receive moderate to heavy rain, with the possibility of very heavy rain in isolated places in the next 24 hours.
The city faced major waterlogging and traffic issues due to heavy rain a few days ago.
Along with Mumbai, other parts of Maharashtra are set for heavy rain due to the gradual strengthening of westerly winds associated with the southwest monsoon.
"A gradual increase in rainfall activity is expected over parts of Maharashtra during the next 4-5 days. Widespread rainfall activity with heavy (64.5-115.5 mm) to very heavy (115.6-204.4 mm) rainfall is expected over Konkan and adjoining ghat areas of Madhya Maharashtra during this period. Thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are also very likely to occur over parts of Maharashtra during this period," the IMD said.
