Mumbai Records Heaviest June Rainfall In Years As Monsoon Arrives, Triggers Flooding And Disruptions

Mumbai: After a 12-day delay the south west monsoon arrived at Mumbai metropolitan region on Tuesday afternoon and towards night its intensity increased with several areas receiving upwards of 300 mm rainfall. Mumbaikars woke up to a familiar monsoon scene on Wednesday, with widespread flooding of streets, delayed local train services, disrupted air traffic and road traffic snarls.

Flooded Spots

Several low-lying areas and traditional spots including Andheri subway, Dadar TT, Hindmata junction in Parel, Gandhi Market at King's Circle and Sion were flooded in the morning. Apart from these, areas which reported water logging included Chembur, Kurla, Mankhurd, Dahisar, Borivali, Kandivali, Malad and Goregaon.

Mumbai's first major monsoon spell this year also emerged as the city's heaviest June rainfall in recent years. As per the BMC's data, between 8 am on June 23 and 8 am on June 24, Colaba recorded 247.8 mm of rainfall, while Santa Cruz received 224.8 mm. The previous highest 24-hour June rainfall was recorded on June 9, 2021, when Santacruz received 231 mm, although Colaba recorded only 85.8 mm. This year's spell stands out for the heavy rainfall recorded across both the island city and suburbs.

Highest Totals

The weather stations which recorded the highest rainfall in the same period include Malvani fire station (340 mm), F-South ward office, Parel (334 mm), MCMCR Powai (300 mm), Malad depot (293 mm), Dadar fire station (243 mm), Vihar Lake (252 mm), BMC school, Charkop (288 mm), Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central (265 mm), M-West ward office, Chembur (247 mm) among others.

Apart from flooding at the notorious locations leading to road diversions, the intense rain spell led to delayed train services with both Central and Western railway running atleast 15 to 20 minutes behind schedule and with speed restrictions during the morning peak hours. Services on Central Railway's trans-harbour line were disrupted in morning after a track cave-in caused by excessive water flow between Turbhe and Koparkhairane stations in the Thane–Vashi section. Railway officials said the track cave-in occurred due to excessive water flow in the area. The situation was brought under control after prompt intervention by Central Railway engineering teams, and train operations were gradually normalized while maintaining safety precautions.

Flight Operations Hit

The downpour also impacted flight operations at Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport (CSMIA), triggering widespread schedule disruptions, lengthy delays, and a ripple effect across India’s aviation network. On Tuesday, the airport reported cancellation of three flights and around 274 flights faced cascading delays. By Wednesday evening, seven additional flights were cancelled and over 278 flights were significantly delayed.

The southwest monsoon is expected to cover the rest of Maharashtra in the next 48 hours. The India Meteorological Department has sounded an yellow alert for Mumbai and it's metropolitan region and thunderstorms accompanied with rainfall and gusty winds for the next two days.

Meanwhile, the rains have brought relief from the intense heat, with temperatures dropping more than 10°C in less than 48 hours. On Wednesday, the Colaba observatory recorded maximum temperature of 26.5°C, a 4.9°C below normal, and minimum temperature was 23°C, a 3.4°C below normal.

(With inputs from Shefali Parab-Pandit, Abhishek Pathak and Dhairya Gajara)

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