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Mumbai monsoon turns chaos: Roads flooded, subway shut, vehicles stranded after heavy rain | Videos
Mumbai Weather: After a 12-day delay, the monsoon has finally arrived in the city, bringing heavy rainfall and widespread waterlogging across several areas.
Mumbai finally welcomed the southwest monsoon on Tuesday, ending a prolonged wait that stretched 13 days beyond its usual arrival date of June 11. The much-awaited rainfall brought relief from persistent heat and humidity, but also caused widespread disruption in several parts of the city as roads and subways were inundated.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has placed Mumbai under a yellow alert for Wednesday, forecasting heavy rainfall. Parts of Maharashtra have been issued yellow and orange alerts as wet weather conditions continue across the state.
Waterlogging disrupts daily life
Heavy rain through the night and into Tuesday led to severe waterlogging in several parts of Mumbai.
Also read | Monsoon finally arrives in Mumbai, 13 days late
Commuters faced traffic disruptions as roads became difficult to navigate and civic authorities moved to restrict access to flooded areas.
A flooded subway in Everard Nagar was also closed to the public, according to news agency ANI.
Visuals from various parts of the city, including the Saki Naka Metro station area, showed the impact of the downpour on daily movement.
Speaking about the situation at the Andheri underpass, a Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) official, Rhitik, told ANI, "... We have not been able to find a temporary solution for this severe water logging... Our officers keep standing here to ensure vehicles don't pass through. But some rikshaw drivers still try to get their vehicles across... A rikshaw got stuck here in the centre of the subway. His life was in danger... Two of our officers helped bring him out..."
Also read | Monsoon finally enters Mumbai after long delay; IMD issues warning for heavy rain
Another BMC official, Robert, said, "... We are doing our best to ensure that no vehicles get inside the underpass... We are trying to protect as many people as possible..."
Rainfall recorded across Mumbai
According to IMD data, Colaba received 49 mm of rainfall in the 24 hours ending at 8.30 am on Tuesday, while Santacruz recorded 12 mm during the same period.
Between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm on Tuesday, the IMD observed 35.6 mm of rain at Colaba and 8.9 mm at Santacruz, which serves as Mumbai's base weather station.
Data from the IMD's seven automatic rain gauges showed that Byculla recorded the highest rainfall at 42.5 mm during the period, followed by Sion with 21.5 mm, Mahalaxmi with 18 mm, Bandra with 17 mm, Ram Mandir with 13 mm, Vidyavihar with 5.5 mm and Vikhroli with 5 mm.
One of Mumbai's most delayed monsoon arrivals
The monsoon's arrival this year ranks among the most delayed in Mumbai's recorded weather history.
The June 24 onset is tied as the third-most delayed monsoon arrival in the city since 1951. The latest arrival was recorded on June 25 in 1959, 2019 and 2022. Before this year, June 24 had previously marked the onset date in 1974, while June 23 was recorded in 1981, earlier HT reported.
Announcing the monsoon's progress, the IMD said, “The Southwest Monsoon has further advanced into the remaining parts of the central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, the remaining parts of Telangana and Odisha, and some more parts of Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and Bihar. The northern limit of the monsoon passes through Dahanu, Wardha, Raipur, Daltonganj, and Motihari.”
