JOIN USHeavy rain lashed pockets of Mumbai and its suburbs in brief spells throughout on Thursday even as disruption of trans-harbour line of the Central Railway inconvenienced commuters.
According to the Regional Meteorological Observatory (RMD) of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and Skymet, Mumbai and Maharashtra are expected to experience good rain over the weekend. According to RMD, heavy rainfall will occur at isolated places in Konkan-Goa coast for the next 48 hours.
In the last 24 hours, ending on Thursday evening, Mumbai recorded nearly 50 mm rainfall. The season’s total recorded in Colaba and Santacruz observatories was 305 mm and 253 mm, respectively. The trans-harbour line services were temporarily suspended from 5:50 am to 10 am due to technical snag. Arrangement of additional bus services from Thane Cidco bus stand and Vandana Talkies bus stand to Vashi were made with the help of Thane Municipal Transport for the passengers. Shuttle services were run between Nerul and Panvel.
A 4.58 mts high tide was recorded at 1 pm and a large number of people thronged at Gateway of India, Marine Drive and Worli Seaface. The Andheri-Jogeshwari belt in Mumbai, Vasai-Virar in Palghar and Navi Mumbai received good downpour. Traffic moved at snail’s pace in central Mumbai during the high tide and people at some places had to wade through knee-deep water.
According to reports, farmers have commenced sowing operations. “Fertilisers like subsidised Urea and seeds from Maharashtra Seeds Corporation Ltd are being sent to all the regions,” officials said, adding sowing of paddy, cotton, bajra, peanuts and tur dal and other pulses are in full swing.
In Kerala, south-west monsoon is yet to pick pace. Weathermen stated that rain in the first half of June had fallen way short of what is classified as normal rainfall. According to the Meteorological Centre in Thiruvananthapuram, the state has — between June 1 and 17 — received rainfall 48 per cent less than the long period average. Weathermen classify the period between June 1 and September 30 as the south-west monsoon season. The monsoon had hit Kerala on June 5, six days after its scheduled date of onset.
Till Wednesday, the state received 177 mm rainfall; the normal rainfall for the period is 340.5 mm. All the 14 districts have recorded deficient rainfall during the period with three of them — Idukki, Palakkad and Kozhikode — bracketed together as districts with the lowest amounts of rainfall. Lakshadweep recorded a 32 per cent excess rainfall during the period.