Mumbai is on red alert; forecast calls for exceptionally heavy rain; schools and colleges are closed

 MUMBAI: The IMD increased the weather warning for Mumbai on Wednesday night, placing it under a "red alert" signifying exceptionally heavy rain in remote areas.

On Thursday, July 27, all Mumbai schools and junior colleges up to class 12 will be closed due to forecasts of extremely heavy rain.

Mumbai has received more than 2,000 mm of rain in just over a month since the monsoon season began there on June 25, thanks partly to the city's current wet spell.

The city's first 1,000 mm of rain fell on July 21. The season's total rainfall of 2,000 mm also came just five days later.

According to unbiased meteorologists, this 2,000 mm of rain fell in just 56 days, which is the second-fastest 2,000 mm of rain ever recorded.

On July 22, 2021, the IMD Santacruz observatory noted 2,000 mm of precipitation over the previous 52 days.

In spite of all the concerns of a subpar monsoon, Rajesh Kapadia, who maintains the private weather blog Vagaries of the Weather, claimed the start of the Mumbai monsoon is good.

"There are still four days left, and the total amount of rain for the month is 1512.7mm as of Wednesday night. According to our data, this is also the city's second-quick occurrence of 2000 mm of rain, with the fastest occurrence to date occurring on July 22, 2021 "Kapadia stated.

In the nine hours ending at 5.30 p.m. on Friday, the meteorological observatories at IMD Colaba and Santacruz recorded high rainfall of 103.4 mm and 78.9 mm, respectively, on Wednesday.

Due to water logging, low-lying places like the Andheri underground had to temporarily close to traffic.

BMC declares a vacation for educational institutions

After the IMD's "red alert" for the city on Wednesday, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced a holiday for all public and private schools and institutions on July 27.

On Wednesday night, Iqbal Singh Chahal, the BMC's administrator and municipal commissioner, released a statement regarding it. The statement read, "Since student safety is a major priority, the BMC has declared a holiday for all municipal, government-run, and private primary, secondary, and higher secondary schools and all institutions in the city and suburbs on Thursday in light of the red alert issued for Mumbai.

For Mumbai city and its surrounding areas, the IMD Mumbai issued a "very heavy rainfall" warning (red alert) from 8 p.m. on July 26 to the afternoon on July 27.

The BMC urges that all residents remain vigilant, stay inside, and graciously abide by administrative directives, Chahal said.

The BMC stated that the weather department's "red alert" would be in effect until the afternoon; however, IMD authorities made it clear that it would only be in effect until 8.30 am.

On Wednesday, Mumbai was pummelling by torrential rain that didn't stop, slowing down the flow of traffic.