Mumbai rains: IMD says ‘red alert’ was issued in advance, BMC says city wasn’t included

HT had reported that Mumbai could expect more than 200mm of rainfall on Tuesday

A red alert, warning that rainfall in north Konkan — which includes Mumbai — would surpass the 200mm mark was issued on August 29, said senior India Meteorological Department officials from New Delhi.

Water logging in Parel on Wednesday morning. (Vijayanand Gupta/HT)

HT had reported that Mumbai could expect more than 200mm of rainfall on Tuesday.

However, Mahesh Narvekar, chief BMC’s disaster management cell, said only an ‘extreme rainfall’ warning was issued for the regions between Palghar and Raigad. “This did not include Mumbai,” he said. He added that a red alert was not issued.

IMD officials said the warning was issued to the Maharashtra and Gujarat governments and their civic bodies. “We issued a red alert and also provided updates every three hours once the rains started ,” KJ Ramesh, director general, IMD told HT.

The regional bureau had also informed that heavy rainfall would slowly shift from Mumbai to Thane after Tuesday evening to ensure immediate relief and rescue operations, added Ramesh.