Maharashtra Rain News Highlights: BMC declares schools and colleges will operate normally today

Maharashtra Rain News LIVE: On Saturday night, BMC in a post on X said, “The weather and rainfall in Mumbai are normal at present, allowing life in the metropolitan city to proceed smoothly. As a result, all schools and colleges in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area will remain open on a regular basis tomorrow, Friday, 26th July 2024. Parents are humbly requested not to believe any other information or rumors regarding school and college holidays and to rely only on official information from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The civic administration urges citizens to stay in touch with the management of the concerned schools and colleges for more.”

Thane Municipal Corporation has announced that schools and colleges in Thane will remain closed on July 26 on account of heavy rainfall in the district. The IMD has issued a red alert till 8.30 am on Friday

In a release, the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation said it is suspending bus services on at least a dozen routes in Thane district due to water flowing above bridge decks. These comprise five routes in Murbad, as well as those serviced by Wada, Thane, Kalyan and Vithalwadi depots. Bridges in Kishore, Pali, Badlapur, Eranjad, Chikla, Shivdholi, Mhasa are under water, while a tree fell on the road in Sakhra.

Morya Gosavi Ganpati Mandir in Pimpri-Chinchwad almost submerged as the region witnessed incessent heavy rainfall, ANI reported. The Municipal Corporation has asked citizens living along the Pavana river to be alert due to sudden rise in water levels.

Senior Maharashtra Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar urged the Eknath Shinde government to quickly announce financial aid for farmers who have lost crops due to heavy rains in the state. The Leader of Opposition in the assembly stated that crops on thousands of hectares have been destroyed. Heavy rains have affected East Vidarbha, Kolhapur, Raigad, and Pune, including areas like Bhor Velha, Maval, and Haveli, with Mulshi taluka's Khadakvasla being severely impacted. He also said people in Pune and Mumbai living in unsafe buildings should be relocated and called for relief efforts in Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, and Wardha districts. Wadettiwar advised people to avoid accident-prone areas.

A team from the NDRF has arrived at the landslide site in Lavasa. The road leading to the landslide area has some cracks.

Heavy and continuous rains have caused severe damage in Pune, Maharashtra. At least four people died in rain-related incidents on Thursday, and many houses and residential areas in low-lying parts of the city were flooded, leading to evacuations, officials said. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a 'red alert' for Pune district and advised people to take precautions. Schools and colleges in most parts of the district have declared a holiday due to the heavy rain warning. Pune city and other areas in the district, like Velha, Mulshi, Bhor talukas, and the catchment areas of several dams, including Khadakwasla, have been experiencing nonstop rain since Wednesday night.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai city and neighbouring Thane, Raigad and Palghar districts till 8.30 am on Friday. The agency has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in some places and extremely heavy rainfall in isolated places during the day.

Reposting a video of flood damage in Pune, Rajya Sabha MP and Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Priyanka Chaturvedi said in a post on X, “Stay safe Pune. 🙏🏼”

Heavy rainfall in Mumbai and nearby areas has caused the water level in the Pavana River to rise.

The fire department rescued 70 people who were stranded in the Nimbjanagar area of Pune city earlier today due to heavy rainfall.

An 'Orange' alert has been issued for Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg, and Mumbai districts for July 26.

India Meteorological Department issued a ‘red’ alert for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar and Raigad for today in its 1pm forecast.

The BEST has diverted few bus routes from Coastal Road to Breach Candy-Kemps Corner-Babulnath-Marine Drive route owing to an accident of a private vehicle inside the Coastal Road at 10.30 am.

The BEST officials said that they are diverting buses on other routes as well. "There is water logging at Sheetal cinema and therefore, buses of route 7Ltd, 302, 303 are diverted between Shreyas cinema and Kurla depot via Eastern Express Highway, Amar Mahal and SCLR," said a BEST official.

There is an also a case of tree uprooted at Bhandup West on Hanuman Mandir Road near Bhandup police station. Due to this operation of route 607 on Bhandup station to Tulshet Pada has been suspended. Similarly buses of Route A 488 and 533 Ltd are diverted between Ghatkopar pipe line and Sakinaka via Maniklal compound-Asalpha village.

Continuous and heavy rainfall in Mumbai is severely disrupting flight operations at Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj International Airport, prompting major airlines to issue advisories to passengers.

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The Radhanagari dam in Kolhapur has overflowed after reaching full capacity due to heavy rains. As a result doors of dams were opened. The discharge of water led Panchganga river in Kolhapur to cross the danger mark

According to the IMD as of 8 am, Mumbai can expect moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs. There is a possibility of very heavy rainfall at isolated places. Occasional gusty winds reaching 50-60 kmph a lre also very likely.

High Tide is expected to be 4.64 metres at 2:51 pm and low tide at 9 pm is expected to be 1 metre

The Mithi river level is currently 2.05 metres. Average rainfall from 8 am on July 24 to 8 am on July 25 was 44 mm in central Mumbai, 90mm in eastern suburbs and 89 mm in western suburbs.

According to the BMC work is ongoing to drain these major spots of waterlogging:

Eastern Suburbs: Kurla Railway station, Postal Colony Chembur, Shell Colony Chembur, Kurla Depot

Western suburbs: Andheri subway, Andheri market, Library junction BKC, Veera Desai Road

The BMC has decided to withdraw ten percent water cut from July 29 as four lakes supplying drinking water to Mumbai have started overflowing now, said Hydraulic Engineer Purushottam Malavade of BMC.

All seven lakes supplying water have more than 66 per cent stock now.

Deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar was quoted saying about the flood situation in the state, “Since early today, I have been reviewing the ongoing heavy rain and flood situation in various districts of Maharashtra, particularly Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Kolhapur and Sangli from my office.

He also spoke about the relief and assistance to be provided - “The disaster management system of all the districts and the concerned officials of the district administration have been instructed to provide the necessary assistance to the people as soon as possible without any delay in the rescue and relief work.”

"The concerned district administration will be provided all necessary assistance on behalf of the state government so that there is no hindrance in rescue operations. I request all the people of Maharashtra to step out of their homes only if necessary and be vigilant while travelling. The state government is fully operational, your safety is our top priority.”