Mumbai: Mumbai parts of Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai received a brief spell of pre-monsoon showers on Sunday morning, bringing slight relief from the hot and humid weather.In the 24-hour period ending Sunday 8.30am, the IMD Colaba observatory recorded 6.8mm of rainfall and the IMD Santacruz observatory 2mm. According to readings from the automatic weather stations spread across Mumbai, between 6am and 7am, Worli recorded 25mm of rain, Ghatkopar 24mm, Lower Parel 21mm, Chembur 20mm, and Mankhurd 16mm.Over the past week, as monsoon remained stalled, Mumbai continued to experience hot and humid weather, with temperatures remaining significantly above normal. Sunday morning’s showers brought down the minimum temperatures with the IMD Colaba and Santacruz observatories recording 25.8 degrees Celsius and 26.7 degrees Celsius, respectively, compared to 28.6 degrees Celsius on Saturday.On Sunday, Thane city received 2mm rainfall over a span of two hours starting at 9.30am. Though there were no waterlogging or tree-fall complaints during the intermittent showers, residents of several areas, including parts of Anand Nagar along Ghodbunder highway, complained of power cuts lasting anywhere between 30 minutes to two hours.Parts of Navi Mumbai recorded an average rainfall of 2.68mm between 6.45am and 7.30am, while the satellite city outskirts reported light showers. Belapur recorded the highest rainfall of the day at 7.9mm, followed by Vashi at 3.6mm, Nerul at 3.3mm, and Digha at 1.3mm. But neighbouring nodes, including Koparkhairane, Ghansoli and Airoli, witnessed a dry spell, though some pockets in these areas received drizzle for a few minutes.Light rainfall was also reported in parts of Titwala, Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Murbad and Badlapur in Thane district.On Sunday, the IMD said that conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of Maharashtra around June 23. “Isolated thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds (speed reaching 40-50 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph) likely over Konkan and Goa during June 22-25,” said the IMD. Mumbai falls under North Konkan.In its forecast for the week, the weather bureau has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar till Wednesday, indicating thunderstorms accompanied with lightning, light to moderate rains, gusty winds at isolated places.Akshay Sunil, VP, WeatherEx @ Experiqs Pvt Ltd, said, “Mumbai is likely to see a gradual increase in rainfall from June 22, with more frequent and organised spells expected between June 23-26. Forecasts indicate that strengthening low-level westerly winds and favourable mid-level circulation could improve moisture transport along the west coast. The prolonged weak phase will finally begin to ease. However, the official onset of the southwest monsoon over Mumbai will depend on whether the required rainfall and wind conditions are sustained, with clearer conditions for its advance expected during the latter half of the week.”Mumbai monsoon had already missed its normal onset data of June 11. The most-delayed arrival of the southwest monsoon in Mumbai was June 25, in the years 2019 and 2023. Last year, the city saw the earliest arrival of monsoons ever on May 26.The seven lakes that supply drinking water to Mumbai currently hold only around 8.68% of their total useful storage capacity, significantly lower than the 25.87% on the same date last year. Civic officials said that they are continuing to closely monitor the situation as the city awaits stronger monsoon activity in the catchment areas. “A review of the current water situation will be again taken at the end of the month,” said an official.On June 16, the BMC suspended water supply to construction sites and swimming pools and also imposed a 20% cut in supply to industrial and commercial establishments.Viral video of water accumulation on Mumbai Coastal Road underpassA video showing water accumulation along the Mumbai Coastal Road underpass went viral on X on Sunday evening. “Coastal road underpass gets flooded just after a drizzle in Mumbai.. What a beautiful way to save and conserve water… MASTER STROKE,” read a post by the handle @MFuturewala.BMC officials clarified that it wasn’t flooding, but water had accumulated. “The work of canopy construction for PUPs at Worli-side is underway as the same has been approved by the standing committee,” said an official.(With inputs from B B Nayak, Manoj Badgeri & Pradeep Gupta)
