Orange rain alert in Mumbai, nearby areas; waterlogging, inconvenience likely – Hindustan Times

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued an ‘orange’ alert on Monday for Mumbai, Thane, and other nearby areas – indicating chances of ‘heavy to very heavy rainfall’. “Orange alert issued for Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg today,” said the Regional Meteorological Centre in Mumbai, reported news agency ANI.

India’s financial capital is infamous for waterlogging in monsoon, causing inconvenience to commuters and residents.

Earlier on Sunday, an IMD spokesperson had advised the citizens to take precautions while stepping out on Monday. “The city may get around 130 mm of rainfall over the next two or three days, which is not alarming by Mumbai standards, but it could cause waterlogging,” the official said.

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The IMD – in its daily bulletin on Sunday – had informed that “fairly widespread/ widespread rainfall with thunderstorm/ lightning is very likely over Karnataka, Konkan and Goa, Kerala and Mahe and Lakshadweep and scattered to fairly widespread rainfall likely over Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Marathwada, Andhra Pradesh and Yanam, Telangana and Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Karaikal during next five days.”

The official date for the onset of the southwest monsoon was June 11, but reports say Mumbai, and other parts of Maharashtra, have been witnessing cloudy skies and intermittent rain only in the last few days. The first low-visibility downpour occurred in isolated areas early Sunday. According to IMD, Mumbai has received around 16.2 mm of rainfall so far, while Thane and Palghar have received 1.3 mm and 7.77 mm of rainfall respectively.

Also read: City experiences widespread pre-monsoon showers

With the fresh spell of rain, the air quality in Mumbai has increased to a “good category”. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting And Research (SAFAR), the overall AQI on Monday morning was 29. As per the government agency, an AQI between zero and 50 is considered ‘good’, between 51 and 100 is considered to be ‘satisfactory’, 101 and 200 is ‘moderate’, between 201 and 300 is ‘poor’, between 301 and 400 is ‘very poor’, and between 401 and 500 is considered to be ‘severe’.

(With inputs from ANI)