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Heavy rains lash Mumbai, coastal Maharashtra

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday predicted widespread rain for Mumbai and the Konkan coast over the next two to three days. The northern limit of the monsoon has reached Veraval and Surat in Gujarat, it added.

The heavy showers have resulted in mercury levels coming down sharply in Mumbai. The maximum and minimum temperature is expected to hover between 32 degrees Celsius and 27 degrees Celsius for the next few days.

Dark clouds have also been moving over the metropolis and the met office predicts the monsoon will strengthen over the coming days. Mumbai receives an average rainfall of nearly 2,200mm during the four-month rainy season between June and September.

India’s western coast, especially places such as Udupi and Mangalore in coastal Karnataka, Kerala, Goa and Konkan get the maximum amount of rainfall every year. Of the 36 met sub-divisions in the country, coastal Karnataka receives the highest, at more than 3,100mm, followed by Konkan and Goa (including Mumbai) at 2,800mm and Kerala (2,100mm).

The rainfall varies within the sub-divisions as well; while Assam and Meghalaya get nearly 2,000mm of rainfall, just one district — East Khasi hills in Meghalaya — receives more than 5,300mm of rainfall during the four-month season, the highest for a district.

Heavy rains in Mumbai dislocate the transport infrastructure every year, resulting in flooding in many parts. Basically an island, Mumbai’s peculiar topography — with the central parts acting like a basin to collect the run-off from many small rivers and creeks — the city gets crippled when heavy rains coincide with high tides.

Dumping of plastic and other garbage also results in storm-water drains getting choked off, especially along the two major railway corridors. Every monsoon, Mumbai’s suburban railway network gets flooded for a few days, disrupting the city’s lifeline. The suburban corridors carry more than 6.5 million commuters every day.

Both the railways and the civic body are lethargic in taking up cleaning operations before the monsoon every year. Besides residents living along the corridors — who throw garbage on to the tracks — contractors also have a tendency of dumping debris into the drains, resulting in blockages during the rains.

nithin@khaleejtimes.com