Mumbai floats as heavy rains lash the city and its suburbs  

Intense spells of rain battered Mumbai and its suburbs of Thane and Palghar through Monday night and early Tuesday morning, causing waterlogging and traffic snarls on various stretches of the city. Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar are expected to receive moderate to heavy rainfall till July 8.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert both for Mumbai and Thane. A yellow alert has also been issued for Palghar for the next two days, and an orange alert for the subsequent three days.

Watch: Mumbai wakes up to waterlogged streets as rains pound city

Also read: IMD predicts heavy rainfall across states as monsoon covers entire India

The city is also likely to receive “very heavy” rainfall from July 7-8 due to the formation of a twin weather system.

Route diversions

As rains showed no let up on Tuesday morning, the city administration has implemented route diversions to enable commuters to avoid potentially dangerous water-logging zones. The current heavy spell of rainfall is said to be caused due to the formation of a low pressure zone over Madhya Pradesh.

A total of eight NDRF teams have been deployed across Maharashtra including one each in  Nagpur, Chiplun, and Mahad. Newly-appointed Chief Minister Eknath Shinde held a meeting with the chief secretary and directed the guardian secretaries of all the vulnerable districts to keep a vigil and control the situation.

In Mumbai, the Andheri Subway was completely waterlogged after heavy rainfall on Tuesday morning, thereby affecting commute. A landslide was reported at Panchsheel Nagar in Mumbai’s Ghatkopar area on Tuesday morning. No casualties have been reported so far. Fire vehicles have reached the spot for rescue operations.

Sources also reported that heavy boulders fell from a hillock in Thane’s Kalyan Town under the influence of the turbulent weather. In Palghar, a mud house collapsed following a heavy downpour. The occupants of the house reportedly rushed out of their home after noticing some cracks, following which, the structure collapsed within minutes.

Many parts of both, eastern and western suburbs, such as Chembur, Andheri, Juhu, and Bandra were waterlogged on Tuesday. As per the latest radar observation at 11 AM from Mumbai, sporadic rainfall in the moderate to heavy range is expected to continue over Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and parts of Raigad over the next three to four hours.