Monday, 18 August 2025
Monday, 18 August 2025
Mumbai reeled under heavy rains for the third consecutive day on Monday, disrupting road, rail and air traffic, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a ‘red alert’ for the metropolis and adjoining districts.
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) declared a holiday for all schools and colleges. “All educational institutions will remain shut for the afternoon session,” BMC Commissioner Bhushan Gagrani said, citing the safety of students.
The civic body also appealed to residents to step out only if necessary and asked them to contact its disaster control helpline 1916 for emergencies.
Flight operations were affected at Mumbai airport, with a spokesperson saying nine flights conducted “go arounds” before landing, while one was diverted to Surat in Gujarat till 12 noon due to poor weather conditions.
Local trains, considered the city’s lifeline, were delayed by 8 to 20 minutes. On the Central Railway’s Harbour Line, suburban services were hit as water accumulated on tracks in low-lying areas and due to a failure of track-changing points between Kurla and Tilak Nagar stations.
However, no suburban services were suspended.
BEST bus services ran without diversions.
Roads in several parts of the city were waterlogged, with the Andheri Subway and Lokhandwala Complex among the worst affected.
Motorists said blinding rain hampered visibility and slowed vehicular movement.
IMD issued a red alert for Mumbai, Thane and Raigad districts, forecasting “heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy showers at isolated locations” on Monday and Tuesday.
Ratnagiri was placed under a red alert for Monday, while Sindhudurg was on orange alert for both days.
“A low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and formation of the east-west shear zone along with cyclonic circulation has combinedly resulted into Maharashtra's coastal areas, including Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts, receiving heavy rainfall. The IMD has issued red alerts for these districts for today and tomorrow,” said Shubhangi Bhute, head of the IMD’s Mumbai Regional Meteorological Centre.
“We have also issued a warning for fishermen not to venture into the sea. We have issued a red alert for Palghar district also for Tuesday,” she added.
According to civic officials, rainfall intensity increased after 9 am on Monday following heavy overnight showers. In one hour from 9 am, the island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs recorded 37 mm, 39 mm and 29 mm rainfall, respectively. Chembur reported the highest rainfall at 65 mm during this period, followed by 50 mm in Shivaji Nagar.
In the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Monday, the island city recorded 54.58 mm rainfall, the eastern suburbs 72.61 mm, and the western suburbs 65.86 mm. Several areas received more than 100 mm rainfall in this period, officials said.
