On Sunday, Colaba recorded a surprisingly high rainfall of 139 mm, while Santa Cruz recorded only 35 mm between 8 am and 5.30 pm. Chronic flooding spots of the central suburbs, like the Hindmata and Kalachowkie junctions, saw moderate waterlogging. Civic staff watched over open manholes in these areas through the afternoon.
IMD officials stated that three coinciding factors have caused a change in the last week’s weather conditions. K Sathi Devi, director of IMD, Mumbai, said: “A cyclonic circulation in Gujarat and its adjoining area, an offshore trough lying between the north Maharashtra and Kerala coast and a low pressure in the Bay of Bengal — all these factors together are most favourable for rains and thundershowers.”
Usually, an offshore trough is a common feature in the city during the monsoon, she stated, but this year it has remained absent so far. “Saturday saw moderate rains, but on Sunday the monsoon picked up and heavier showers were recorded in Mumbai. We are expecting torrential rains till Tuesday,” she said.
Rains have also been lashing the Konkan region and the interior Maharashtra, IMD officials said. “Except for the Marathwada region which is receiving only moderate rainfall, heavy downpour has been recorded in all other parts of the state,” Sathi Devi said. Marathwada includes the districts of Aurangabad, Jalna, Beed, Nanded, Osmanabad, Latur, Hingoli and Parbhani.
With heavy rains lashing the catchment areas of the city, lake levels too are rising. BMC’s chief hydraulic engineer M Kamble said that while Modak Sagar overflowed last week, the other lakes would soon follow suit. “Tulsi is just 5 feet below the overflow mark, while Tansa about 15 feet,” he said, of the city’s main sources of water supply. The IMD has also issued a warning to fishermen against venturing into the seas till Monday. Their official website states that winds at the coast will be westerly to south-westerly, with a speed of 45-50 km per hour, sometimes reaching up to 55 km per hour in gusts or squalls. It predicted that the sea will be rough with south-westerly waves.