Amid dust storms and rains in several parts of Mumbai, the city’s airport runway was closed from 3.57 pm for half an hour due to bad visibility. The abrupt weather shift halted traffic, forcing commuters to seek shelter amid the storm. Strong winds and rain battered areas like Ghatkopar, Bandra Kurla, and Dharavi.
“Thunderstorm accompanied with lightning and light to moderate spells of rain with gusty winds reaching 40-50 kmph very likely to occur at isolated places in the districts of Mumbai during next 3-4 hours. Take precautions while moving out," the India Meteorological Department said in a statement on Monday afternoon.
Vistara in a statement on X said, “Flight UK620 Dehradun to Mumbai (DED-BOM) has been diverted to Ahmedabad (AMD) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport and is expected to arrive in Ahmedabad (AMD) at 1655 hours. Please stay tuned for further updates.
“Flight UK562 from Jaipur to Mumbai (JAI-BOM) has been diverted to Goa (GOX) due to bad weather at Mumbai airport and is expected to arrive in Goa at 1720 hours. Please stay tuned for further updates,” the airline said in another statement.
Many airlines have issued advisories for passengers amid dust storms and rainy weather.
"Due to bad weather in Mumbai (BOM), all departures/arrivals and their consequential flights may get affected. Passengers are requested to keep a check on their flight status via http://bit.ly/2tG9xBx," said SpiceJet on X.
"The dust storm has returned, this time over #Mumbai. Potential air traffic congestion is expected, so keep a tab on your flight status https://bit.ly/3DNYJqj Plan your journey to the airport accordingly and have a safe trip.," said IndiGo on X.
The Regional Meteorological Center (RMC) in Mumbai has raised a yellow alert for districts including Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Solapur, Latur, Beed, Nagpur, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. These areas may experience thunderstorms, lightning, and gusty winds (30-40 kmph) in isolated spots, according to the weather department. An orange alert has been issued for regions including Pune, Satara, Sangli, Nashik, Kolhapur, Ahmednagar, Aurangabad, Jalna and Parbhani districts.
