IMD upgrades rain alert amid constant downpour

The orange alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall, was issued at 4pm and valid till 8.30am on Saturday. No alert has been sounded for Saturday

Mumbai: The city woke up to cloudy, overcast skies on Friday, with bouts of showers disrupting normal life intermittently. By afternoon though, the rain turned into a constant downpour, disrupting the Maratha quota protest at Azad Maidan and prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to upgrade the yellow alert into an orange alert.

Motorists travel amid rain in Vikhroli (Satish Bate/ Hindustan Times)

The orange alert, warning of heavy to very heavy rainfall, was issued at 4pm and valid till 8.30am on Saturday. No alert has been sounded for Saturday.

According to figures from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the western suburbs recorded the highest rainfall between 8:30am and 6pm, at 61mm. The eastern suburbs received 47mm rain, followed by the island city at 30mm.

As per the IMD’s figures, the observatory in Santacruz recorded 77mm rainfall till 5:30pm, while the one at Colaba recorded 32.2mm.

The Andheri subway and other areas in the vicinity such as the Link Road were shut due to flooding. Waterlogging was reported from some areas in Kurla too.

An IMD official attributed the rains to a “cyclonic circulation” over Vidarbha and the neighbouring areas at the mid and upper levels.

“Due to the north-westward movement of the system, there was increased rainfall in the Konkan too,” the official said.

Over the 24 hours ending at 8:30am Friday, the island city recorded 20mm rainfall, followed by 17mm in the western suburbs and 14mm in the eastern suburbs.