Rains Return To Mumbai After Long Break

After nearly a month-long hiatus, rains lashed Mumbai on Thursday, giving much-needed relief from the rising heat.

The island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs recorded average 57.63 mm, 76.94 mm and 90.50 mm rainfall, respectively, between 8 am and 6 pm.

The showers also affected vehicular movement. The traffic slowed down on several roads and the arterial roads witnessed heavy congestion in some places.

As it rained after a long gap, vehicle users said the roads became slippery and there were incidents of  two-wheelers and four-wheelers skidding after applying the brakes.

The island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs had recorded 8.11 mm, 15.87 mm and 12.45 mm of rainfall, respectively, in the 24 hours ended at 8 am on Thursday, but the intensity of the showers increased thereafter.

The megapolis was not getting much showers except drizzling since July-end. In the past few days, the city had witnessed sunny and sultry days.

Govandi area in eastern Mumbai recorded 150 mm rainfall between 8 am and 6 pm on Thursday, while some areas in western suburbs received more than 100 mm rainfall during the same period, informed a bulletin issued by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) in the evening.

Malvani, Marol, Andheri and Chincholi in the western suburbs received 100 to 115 mm rainfall, while the island city areas from Prabhadevi to Sion recorded 70 to 90 mm rainfall. 

As many as 11 incidents of tree collapse or branch falling and eight incidents of short-circuit were reported but there were no casualties, the BMC said.

The buses of Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and suburban trains on the Central Railway and Western Railway lines were running normally, the bulletin said.

The BMC also did not report waterlogging anywhere in the city.

-With PTI Input