The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Mumbai, adjoining Thane and Palghar districts, predicting heavy rains on Monday and extremely heavy rains at isolated places on Tuesday and Wednesday. Further, the IMD has issued warnings of torrential to very heavy rains with thunderstorms in Maharashtra from September 5 to 9, mainly in Marathwada, Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra. There will be heavy to heavy rains on September 7 and 8 in Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra. An orange alert has been issued in Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Aurangabad and Jalna for September 6.

In the last 24 hours ending at 8.30pm on Sunday, 43.1mm and 25.2mm of rain was recorded at Santacruz and Colaba respectively.

The Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC), Mumbai, has further added that thunderstorms continued to lash parts of interior Maharashtra.

Private weather agency Skymet said on its website: “Parts of Maharashtra and many parts of Madhya Pradesh may receive active monsoon rains during the next three to four days at least up to September 9.”

According to the head of SID at the Climate Research and Services, Pune, K S Hosalikar, the latest satellite image indicated almost the entire west coast covered with dense clouds, more towards South Konkan and below. “Maharashtra is very likely to experience an active spell of rainfall during the next 4-5 days. Enhanced rainfall activity is expected over the region with heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with the possibility of extremely heavy falls at isolated places over Konkan,’’ Hosalikar warned.

The IMD said, under the influence of west-northwestward movement of the likely low-pressure area or its remnant cyclonic circulation, fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls very likely over south Odisha, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Telangana, Vidarbha and south Chhattisgarh during September 5-7 and north Marathwada, north Madhya Maharashtra, north Konkan, Gujarat Region during September 7-9.

Between June 1, 2021 and September 5, 2021, Mumbai and Maharashtra accumulated a rain surplus of two per cent. Between June 1 and September 5, 2,643.2mm and 2,004.4mm of cumulative rain has been recorded at Santacruz and Colaba respectively.

LAKE LEVELS: Meanwhile, the seven lakes supplying water to Mumbai now have 91.83 per cent of the required annual water stock, so far. According to BMC data, as of September 5, all seven lakes had 13,29,168 million litres of water in stock as against the total required capacity of 14,47,363 lakh million litres (water required for annual supply to Mumbai). At the same time last year, there was 98.04 per cent stock and 97.85 per cent in 2019.

Mumbai draws water from the Bhatsa, Middle Vaitarna, Upper Vaitarna, Tansa and Modak Sagar, which are in Thane and Nashik districts. Tulsi and Vihar are two lakes located within city limits, located in the Sanjay Gandhi National Park.

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