Mumbai, June 15: Last monsoon, there had been just four days when it rained over a 100mm. And none of those days was in June. Things this year have started differently. On Monday, the city experienced the season’s first heavy downpour, and many parts in the suburbs recorded over 100mm rainfall.
Residential areas in Kandivli, Borivli, Malad, and Dahisar in the western suburbs, and Mulund in the eastern suburbs witnessed over 100mm rainfall in 24 hours. The data came from rain gauges installed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in various parts of the city to record real-time monsoon data. At 139.97mm, Kandivli recorded the highest rainfall, followed by Malad — 134.61 mm up to 8.30 pm. Borivli received 124.69mm, Mulund 103.86mm and Dahisar 101.08mm.
Heavy rains were witnessed near the civic headquarters at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, Colaba, Worli, and Kurla. They filled civic officials with hope that this time it will rain a lot more than last year. However, the heavy rains brought back flooding memories.
Water-logging was witnessed in several low lying belts. They include places in Kurla, Ghatkopar, Chembur and Vikhroli in the eastern suburbs; Elphinstone and Parel in central Mumbai, and the Goregaon-Dahisar stretch in the western suburbs. The Malad subway, too, was flooded, and traffic had to be diverted.
Local trains ran 10 minutes late on the Central Railway route, a civic source said. Srinivas Mudgerikar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway, however, said there was no problem with short-distance trains.
Civic officials said the city was spared the monsoon blues as the rains did not coincide with the high tide timings. But, there could be trouble on Tuesday. The Met said heavy rains will continue, and a high tide of 4.73m is expected at 2.37pm. If it pours for two hours before or after the high tide time, there could be excessive water-logging.
—Agencies