MUMBAI – For three days in a row, heavy rains have hit the city, bringing India’s financial center to a standstill. The heavy rain has caused huge traffic jams and flooding in low-lying places, such as Hindmata-Parel. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) sent out a red notice for Tuesday, saying there was a chance of “extremely heavy rainfall.” The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) made a proactive decision to close all schools and colleges in Mumbai and the surrounding areas for the day.
The excessive rains have also caused terrible things to happen. In a meeting with state ministers on Monday, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis’s office said that seven people have perished in Maharashtra because of the rain. A 35-year-old watchman died when a wall fell on him, and a 40-year-old lady and her seven-year-old kid were killed when a bus ran over them when they were crossing a street that was flooded. In another case, a guy was washed away in a drain, and search efforts are still going on.
Effect and Reaction
The city’s infrastructure is having a hard time handling the flood. Fallen trees have made it harder for people to get to work, and IndiGo Airlines sent out a travel warning telling people to leave for the airport early since traffic on the roads leading up to it is slow. Virar Lake, one of the seven lakes that supply Mumbai with drinking water, started to overflow on Monday. This is good news for a city that relies on monsoon rains to meet its water needs.
The rain has been record-breaking, with some areas of Mumbai getting more than 150 mm on Monday. The city has had 550 mm of rain in little over 81 hours, which is only 10 mm less than the usual for the whole month of August. Heavy rain has also fallen in parts of Maharashtra other than Mumbai, such as Ratnagiri, Raigad, and Hingoli. This has led the Chief Minister to tell officials to stay on guard until August 21.