Monsoon arrives in state, earliest in 35 years

Mumbai: The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra early, causing heavy rains and flooding in Pune. NDRF teams deployed for evacuations.

Mumbai: The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on Sunday, with several regions including the eastern parts of Pune district receiving heavy rains. Flooding was reported in Baramati and Indapur tehsils and two teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were deployed to assist with evacuations.

A part of the compound wall of Banganga Tank collapsed on Sunday, reportedly due to heavy rains. (Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times)

This marked the earliest onset of the annual monsoon season over the state in 35 years, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). The monsoon is likely to advance to Mumbai and other parts of the state over the next three days, the IMD added.

“The usual date for arrival of the monsoon in Maharashtra is June 5,” said Shubhangi Bhute, director, IMD Mumbai. “This year, the season has arrived 10 days in advance.”

In 1990, the southwest monsoon had reached Maharashtra on May 20, said IMD scientist Sushma Nair. The weather bureau started maintaining data on state-wise entry of the monsoon in 2011.

On Sunday, Baramati in Pune district recorded 179 mm rainfall within a 24-hour period, which led to flood-like situation at several places. The NDRF deployed two teams to shift affected residents to temporary shelters at eight locations in Baramati. An NDRF team was also dispatched to Solapur district to rescue people stranded due to the Neera river altering its course. In Pune city, too, several areas received moderate rainfall.

Mumbai too was lashed by rains on Sunday, but these were pre-monsoon showers, clarified sources in the weather bureau.

The IMD had, in its seasonal outlook issued earlier this year, forecast a prolonged summer season in the state including in Mumbai. But the city received substantial pre-monsoon showers in this month owing to a low-pressure area over the east central Arabian Sea, off the south Konkan-Goa coast. Another trough that ran from the cyclonic circulation associated with the low-pressure area to north Telangana also brought rains to the Mumbai and other isolated places.

As per the observatories at Colaba and Santacruz, the total rainfall in the city in 2025 till Sunday was 159.2 mm and 164.3 mm, respectively. The city has been placed under yellow alert till May 28, indicating the possiblity of heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms accompanied with lightning and gusty winds at 40-50 kmph.

A similar yellow alert has been sounded for the neighbouring district of Palghar till May 27, and Thane till May 29. The coastal districts of Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg have been placed under orange alert, which indicates possibility of extremely heavy rainfall, till May 29 while Raigad has been placed under orange alert till May 26.

On Sunday, the maximum and minimum temperatures recorded at the Santacruz observatory were 34.7 degrees Celsius and 24.4 degrees Celsius, respectively. The maximum and minimum as per the Colaba weather observatory were 32 degrees Celsius and 24.4 degrees Celsius, respectively. The humidity level recorded at both observatories was 92%.

The southwest monsoon hit Kerala on Saturday, marking its earliest arrival over the Indian mainland since 2009 when it had reached the southern state on May 23.

With inputs from Gayatri Vajpeyee