Govind Tekale
Heavy rains have once again wreaked havoc in Maharashtra, submerging several districts, including Mumbai, since morning, severely affecting daily life. The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert here since this morning and has predicted heavy rainfall until July 27. Due to the heavy rains, flights are unable to take off from Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, causing inconvenience to passengers. Therefore, airlines are repeatedly requesting people to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport. IndiGo stated, “We are continuously working to ensure smooth operations and hope that everything will be on time once the weather improves.”
Due to heavy rains and strong winds, visibility has significantly deteriorated, which led to a temporary halt of flight operations at Mumbai Airport on Thursday morning. Operations resumed after about 20 minutes when visibility improved, but many flights are running significantly late as a result. Similar to IndiGo, Air India and SpiceJet have also advised passengers to check the status of their flights before heading to the airport. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar said, “Since this morning, we have been monitoring the heavy rain and flood situation in various districts of Maharashtra, especially in Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Kolhapur, and Sangli. The administration is engaged in helping everyone.”
The IMD has advised people to stay indoors unless necessary and has also requested fishermen to avoid venturing into the sea for the next 24 hours. For the past week, Mumbai has been experiencing continuous rainfall, which has caused waterlogging on local train tracks, slowing down the city’s lifeline. Today, there is a forecast of heavy rainfall in Mumbai, Raigad, Thane, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Ambernath, Ambajogai, Akola, Ahmednagar, Latur, Aheri, Kolhapur, Nagpur, and Nanded, prompting an alert.
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The IMD has issued a red alert for isolated extremely heavy rainfall over Konkan, Madhya Maharashtra today, i.e., on July 25. The Regional Meteorological Centre, Mumbai, has issued a yellow alert for the financial capital today. In addition to this, an orange alert has been issued in Thane, Palghar, Pune, Kolhapur, Satara, Raigad, and Ratnagiri today. It added that, “The districts of Konkan are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places. The districts of Madhya Maharashtra are likely to receive heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in the Ghat region.”
Moreover, RMC added that the districts of North Madhya Maharashtra and Marathwada are likely to receive heavy rain at isolated places. The districts of Vidarbha are likely to experience thundershowers, gusty winds, and heavy rain at isolated places. In an update shared by BMC, it said that Tansa Lake, one of the lakes supplying water to Mumbai, has started overflowing at around 4:16 PM today. Three gates of the Tansa Dam have been opened, releasing water at a rate of 3,315 cusecs. The full storage capacity of Tansa Lake is 14,508 crore litres.
Educational institutions in Maharashtra state declared a holiday for today due to waterlogging in several parts. All schools and colleges in Palghar district announced a holiday for the day as IMD issued a red alert predicting heavy to very heavy rainfall. Meanwhile, Maharashtra Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has taken stock of the situation at Pune district headquarters after heavy rains lashed the district. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Thursday said if the need arises, the rain-hit people will be airlifted in Pune, where incessant downpour has claimed four lives and inundated residential colonies and houses in low-lying areas.
