Maharashtra weather: Mumbai and its surroundings continued to be lashed by heavy rains for the past few days, resulting in waterlogging, inundation of low-lying areas, and many families displaced, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an Orange alert for Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Ratnagiri and a Yellow alert for Mumbai on July 20 (Thursday). IMD also sounded an Orange alert for the coastal Konkan for the next four days.
The IMD has forecast- "Konkan, Goa and central Maharashtra likely to get heavy to very heavy rainfall (115.6mm-204.4 mm) during 20th-22nd July."
The Mumbai Metropolitan Region, comprising the neighbouring districts of Thane, Raigad and Palghar were lashed by heavy overnight rains, and IMD Pune has predicted similar heavy rains in the coastal Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg north Vidarbha, parts of Marathwada and other areas for today, as per IMD-Pune head KS Hosalikar.
Low-lying areas in parts of Mumbai witnessed one-two feet of waterlogging leading to massive traffic snarls and people wading in over knee-deep waters to their destinations.
Navi Mumbai also witnessed heavy rainfall that hit traffic and submerged different localities posing hardships to the local population. In Thane's Badlapur and Ambernath towns, around 200 families from Sonivali and Hendrepada were shifted to safer locations in boats as water seeped into their homes. The suburban train services on the Badlapur-Ambernath section were suspended due to waterlogging on the tracks this afternoon.
Mumbai-Gujarat highway jam:
The Mumbai-Gujarat highway is closed due to severe waterlogging amid heavy rainfall in Maharashtra. As per reports, there is a traffic jam of at least 10-15 km on the highway.
CM Eknath Shinde orders early closure of govt offices:
As heavy rains affected the local train services and road traffic, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday afternoon ordered that government offices in Mumbai and the neighbouring region should be closed early so that employees get more time to reach home.
Mumbai and neighbouring areas have been receiving heavy rainfall for the last two days. The downpour affected the vehicular movement as well as the local train services- mainly on central and harbour lines- which are used by lakhs of people to reach home.
NDRF preparations amid monsoon rains:
The NDRF has deployed one team each in Palghar and Raigad districts where several local rivers overflowed above the danger marks and water gushed into towns and villages around them.
The Palghar district has issued a warning to picnickers not to visit the rivers and waterfalls in the hills which have claimed around 8-9 lives so far in different incidents in the past one week. Virar, Vasai and NalaSopara towns in the district recorded heavy rainfall with people wading in waist-deep waters.
Several big and small rivers in Ratnagiri, including the Vashisht and Jagbudi, were in full spate and threats of floods hovered over several towns like Mahad, Khed, Dapoli, Chiplun and hundreds of villages in their routes.
The concerned district authorities and all agencies are on high alert as incessant rains continued this afternoon. Torrential rainfall reports have also been received from Pune, Nashik, Dhule, Nandurbar, Akola, Amravati, Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara, Solapur and other parts in the state.
(With agencies inputs)
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