Heavy rain likely as IMD issues orange alert from July 1

[popcorn number="6.93 %" desc=" Stock in the lakes supplying water to Mumbai " class="Default"]

After a brief lull in rainfall since Wednesday, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) sounded an orange alert for Mumbai starting July 1, indicating heavy to very heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, and gusty winds between today and Friday.

In 24 hours between 8 am on Sunday and 8 am on Monday, the Colaba weather station recorded 30.4 mm of rain, while the Santacruz weather station recorded 103.1 mm of rain. During these 24 hours, several parts of Mumbai’s western suburbs received over 100 mm of rainfall.

Water woes

A cyclist caught in the downpour on Sunday night in Kandivli

Mumbai’s water stock depleted further in the 24 hours between Sunday and Monday morning, with the seven lakes supplying water now carrying only 6.93 per cent of their total carrying capacity of 14,47,363 million litres. Two of the lakes located within Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP) — Vihar and Tulsi — recorded 112 mm and 179 mm of rain, respectively.

However, none of the other lakes located in Thane and Nashik districts recorded significant rainfall during this period, with only 56 mm of cumulative rainfall in 48 hours. Between Sunday morning and Monday morning, the water quantity in these lakes increased by just 2181 million litres.

In contrast, BMC draws 3700 million litres of water every morning due to its 10 per cent water cut. According to information from BMC, the civic body will not be able to draw any more water from Upper Vaitarna, while Tansa is nearing the end of its supply level.

Nighttime downpour

In the four hours from midnight to 4 am on Monday, Versova and Marol received over 100 mm of rain.

Versova
156.8mm

Marol
108.4mm

Rain alerts issued

Mumbai
Tuesday: Yellow alert (heavy rain at isolated places)
Wednesday-Friday: Orange alert (heavy to very heavy rain)

Thane
Orange alert between Wednesday and Friday

6.93%
Stock in lakes supplying water to Mumbai

Rainfall in 24 hours (Sunday-Monday)

Area    Rain received
Versova     167 mm
Goregaon  129 mm
Sion           124 mm
Marol        122 mm
Mulund (Veena Nagar) 210 mm
Mulund (Gawanpada)   167 mm
Byculla    43 mm
Malabar Hill 45 mm
Matunga    61 mm

* This article was originally published here