To put this in perspective, in July 2005, when Mumbai experienced 944 mm rainfall in a single day (26/7), the total for the month was 1,454mm, over 58mm less than recorded this month. The rainy stretch has ensured that Mumbai has surpassed the 2,000mm mark, achieved within a month since the monsoon’s onset was declared on June 25. This is the second fastest recorded 2,000mm rain event, taking 56 days. Previously, the IMD’s Santacruz observatory achieved the milestone in 52 days (on July 22, 2021). The annual rainfall average for Mumbai is 2,318mm.
Triple digit rain was recorded in 12 hours ending 8.30pm with the IMD’s observatories at Colaba and Santacruz reporting 124.8mm and 124mm rainfall, respectively.
City gets 1,000mm rain in 5 days, 43% of monsoon total
This year, the city reached the first 1,000mm rainfall milestone on July 21, and the subsequent 1,000mm mark in just five days. Adding to the city’s relief, two crucial lakes, Vihar and Tansa, among the seven that supply water to Mumbai, overflowed after Tuesday midnight. Last week, the smallest among the seven lakes, Tulsi, overflowed. Thus, three of the seven lakes have reached full capacity, with total water stock in all seven hitting 59% of capacity. Alerts have been issued in villages in the surroundings of Ambernath, Ulhasnagar and Kalyan along the Ulhas river as the water level of Barvi Dam, at 70.5 metres, is within striking reach of the 72.6-metre capacity level.
Once this is reached, the dam’s 11 gates will open and the overflow released. Rajesh Kapadia, a weather expert running the private forecasting blog Vagaries of the Weather, expressed optimism about Mumbai’s monsoon despite initial doubts about a poor season. Kapadia said the total July rainfall has reached 1,512.7mm, with four more days remaining in the month. On Wednesday, low-lying areas like the Andheri subway had to be temporarily closed for traffic due to waterlogging. The IMD has continued its orange alert for Thane, Raigad, and Palghar for Thursday, indicating the likelihood of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places.
Amidst Wednesday’s rain, IMD upgraded its orange alert for Mumbai and Raigad to red, indicating extremely heavy rain at isolated places. The red alert will continue to apply for apart of Thursday. BEST commuters were affected in waterlogged areas, especially in parts of Andheri (West), Aarey Colony and LBS Road as buses on seven routes took long detours. Before the BMC’s declaration of a school holiday for Thursday (owing to IMD’s alert upgrade), the School Bus Owners’ Association had said that several operators would not run buses over potholed roads if heavy rain continued.
Amid Wednesday’s rain, an electric substation caught fire on the ground floor of a residential building in Thakurdwar, south Mumbai, in the morning, leading to the tripping of four other substations, causing a power outage in Girgaon-Thakurdwar for nearly an hour. The Vasai-Virar Municipal Corporation on Wednesday began demolishing a fourstorey dilapidated building that had begun to tilt. On Tuesday evening, civic staff and an NDRF) team had evacuated 16 families residing in JNM Building, Hanuman Nagar, Nalasopara, after the structure developed cracks.
Watch Mumbai Weather: IMD issues red alert on July 27; schools to remain shut amid heavy rains
