(TWC met team)
Saturday, July 13: After grappling with incessant downpours and massive waterlogging for an entire week, Mumbaikars once again woke up to heavy rains on Saturday morning. The relentless rainfall led to severe inundation in several areas, including the APMC Market in Turbhe Mafco, Navi Mumbai, and King’s Circle. City authorities have also issued a ‘high tide’ warning, predicting a surge of 3.87 metres at 4:06 PM today.
In addition to urban flooding, the heavy rainfall on the previous day caused disruptions on the Mumbai-Agra highway near Kasara Ghat in Igatpuri. Falling rocks from the mountain onto the road temporarily affected vehicle movement. The highway police swiftly noticed the fallen boulders and cordoned off one lane for commuters travelling from Nashik to Mumbai while keeping the other lane open, thus avoiding a complete disruption. An earth mover was promptly deployed to clear the debris, ensuring no damage to vehicles or injuries.
Unfortunately, the city may not receive respite from the rains anytime soon, with the likelihood of neighbouring areas also being affected. A developing cyclonic circulation over north Madhya Maharashtra and an off-shore trough along south Gujarat to north Kerala coast is expected to bring further widespread heavy showers, thunderstorms, and lightning over regions including Konkan-Goa, Madhya Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka for the next five days. Isolated very heavy rainfall (115.6-204.4 mm) is also likely over Konkan-Goa, the Ghat regions of Madhya Maharashtra, and Coastal and South Interior Karnataka from July 13-17, and Gujarat Region on July 16-17.