Heavy unseasonal rains lashed Mumbai and satellite cities on Tuesday morning, bringing down the temperature by 2.6 degrees Celsius. Satellite cities like Thane, Mira-Bhayander, and Vasai-Virar too received a spell of heavy showers in the morning.
The India Meteorological Department attributed the westerly wind and moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea as the reason behind the spell. It is unusual for Mumbai to witness rains in March.
The Colaba observatory recorded a minimum temperature of 20.6 degrees Celsius and Santacruz observatory recorded 21.2 degrees Celsius. The Colaba and Santacruz recorded a departure of 2.6 and 0.3 degree Celsius than the normal.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that some parts of Mumbai city and suburbs have recorded up to 20-25 mm of rain between 7 am and 8 am. In the island city, Central Mumbai areas like Mandvi fire station, Memonwada fire station, Byculla fire station, and BMC headquarters reported 28 mm, 25 mm, 23 mm, and 19 mm rainfall, respectively.
Eastern suburbs like Mulund, Gavanpada, and Bhandup Complex recorded 20 mm and 19 mm rainfall respectively between 6 am and 7 am. In the Western suburbs, Dahisar fire station and Chincholi fire station reported 18 mm and 14 mm rainfall, respectively.
Authorities said public transport services like railways and Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) remained unaffected. The civic body said the BEST bus operations were normal, and nowhere in the city, bus routes were changed due to rain or waterlogging.
Railway authorities said train services in the city on all three suburban corridors – main line, harbour line and western line – were running normally. “Heavy rain was reported in various sections of the Mumbai division, but trains are running smoothly,” said Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer of Central Railway. However, commuter associations said trains were late by nearly 15 minutes as the day progressed.
