Heavy rainfall lashed Mumbai on Saturday, bringing a much-needed relief for Mumbaikars from the sweltering heat in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued heavy rains alert for the metropolis for the next few days.
Gujarat and Rajasthan were also pounded by heavy rains on Saturday, causing severe waterlogging and traffic snarls.
Heavy rainfall lashed Mumbai on Saturday, bringing a much-needed relief for Mumbaikars from the sweltering heat in the city. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) also issued heavy rains alert for the metropolis for the next few days.
Incessant downpours in the financial capital also triggered heavy traffic jams, with IMD saying that Santacruz area received 59 mm of rainfall and Colaba observatory recorded 14 mm.
Gujarat and Rajasthan were also pounded by heavy rains on Saturday, causing severe waterlogging and traffic snarls.
Mumbaikars felt the much-needed relief from the intense heat as heavy rains returned to the city, with IMD issuing alerts for more showers over the next few days.
Several other Maharashtra districts also received showers. The weather office said that Ratnagiri's Harnai and Palghar's Dahanu recorded 116 mm and 143 mm of rainfall respectively.
The weather department said that Mumbai and its neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts and many other parts of the state are expected to receive heavy rains over the next four to five days.
Notably, the IMD issued a "red alert" for Raigad, while an orange alert was issued for Pune and Satara districts of western Maharashtra and Amravati, Bhandara, Chandrapur, and Gondia districts of Vidarbha for Saturday.
An orange alert warns of heavy rainfall exceeding 64.5 mm in 24 hours, potentially disrupting normal life and causing flooding in low-lying areas.
The IMD had also issued an orange alert for some districts of Konkan and western Maharashtra on August 25 and 26 as well.
A low-pressure area over northern parts of West Bengal and adjoining areas of northeast Jharkhand and another over east central Arabian Sea off the Maharashtra coast will bring rain to most parts of Maharashtra in the next two days, an IMD scientist told news agency PTI.
Heavy rains pounded parts of north Gujarat on Saturday, flooding the low-lying areas and blocking the state highways and roads connecting the villages.
Officials said that water levels have reached above the danger mark in 66 out of 206 reservoirs in the state. Of these 52 were full to the brim, 66 on high alert and 42 were 70-100 per cent full.
As per data from the state emergency operation centre (SEOC), Banaskantha's Vadgam taluka received 112 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, the highest in the state, followed by Kheda's Nadiad taluka received 102 mm and 101 mm in Arvalli district's Meghraj taluka.
Daily lives were disrupted in the region as heavy rains caused waterlogging on the roads and led the traffic to move at snail's pace.
The government said that six state highways and 36 panchayat roads were flooded.
Additionally, eight teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and 20 State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) have been deployed in different districts as a precautionary measure.
Officials rescued seven villagers in Dahod and Chhota Udepur districts after they were stranded amid rising water levels of the rivers following heavy rains.
The IMD issued heavy to very heavy rainfall alerts for a few places, with isolated extremely heavy rains warning in parts of south Gujarat till August 27 morning.
As per government data, 17,450 persons were relocated to safer places and 1,653 were rescued from rain-hit areas since the start of the monsoon season.
Given the IMD's warning, fishermen have been advised to not venture into the Arabian Sea till August 27.
Several districts of Rajasthan were hit by heavy showers in the last 24 hours, an official of the met department said.
As per the data till 8:30 am, Bhungra (Bhilwara) in eastern Rajasthan recorded the highest rainfall of 131 mm, while Marwar Junction (Pali) in western Rajasthan recorded 75 mm, the official said.
The districts which were lashed by heavy downpour in the last 24 hours included Jaipur, Dholpur, Udaipur, Rajsamand, Chittorgarh, Kota, Jhalawar, Pali, Banswara, and Sirohi districts.
Rajasthan, since June 1, has received 499 mm of rainfall compared o the normal level of 345.6 mm of rain, the weather department official noted.
The national capital recorded a minimum temperature of 25.4 degrees Celsius, a notch below the season average on Saturday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast generally cloudy skies with light rain during the day.
In the last 24 hours which ended at 8:30 am, Pitampura observatory recorded 70.5 mm rain, Ridge observatory 37.6 mm and Delhi University observatory 37 mm, the IMD said.
According to the Central Pollution Control Board, Delhi's Air Quality Index (AQI) was recorded in the 'satisfactory' category with a reading of 96 at 9 am.
The Met Department on Saturday warned of very heavy rainfall till August 26 in several south Bengal districts, owing to a cyclonic circulation over north Bay of Bengal and a vigorous monsoon.
The cyclonic circulation is likely to intensify into a low-pressure area over the region by Monday, the weather bulletin said.
The IMD said that heavy to very heavy rainfall will occur in the districts of South and North 24 Parganas, East and West Midnapore, Bankura, Hooghly, Birbhum, East and West Bardhaman.
Heavy showers is also likely in other south Bengal districts including Kolkata.
Incessant downpour in Kolkata on Saturday, caused severe waterlogging in several areas in the central and northern part of the city.
Additionally, the Met office also advised fishermen not to venture into the sea over north Bay of Bengal adjoining the state's coast till August 26.