Maharashtra rains: Mumbai continues to witness heavy downpour, IMD issues red alert for Pune, Satara, Kolhapur districts

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a heavy rainfall alert for Maharashtra on Thursday and Friday, as the state capital Mumbai continued to witness heavy downpour for the third consecutive day, resulting in a landslide near a chawl, water-logging at many places, and traffic disruptions.

Three persons were injured in the landslide, an official said, as Mumbaikars continued to face hardship due to flooding on roads.

IMD Director General Mrutunjay Mohapatra said an off-shore trough lies across the Gujarat and Maharashtra coast and low pressure over west Madhya Pradesh, resulting in heavy rainfall over Maharashtra and Gujarat.

The IMD has issued a ‘red alert’ for south Konkan, Goa, and south-central Maharashtra from July 6-8. It said heavy to very heavy rainfall is very likely at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places during this period.

It issued an ‘orange alert’ for north Konkan.

For north-central Maharashtra, east Vidarbha, and west Vidarbha, the IMD issued a ‘yellow alert’ for Wednesday and orange for Thursday and Friday. There was a ‘yellow alert’ for the Marathwada region, forecasting heavy rainfall on Wednesday and the next two days. The red alert for Pune, Satara, and Kolhapur districts indicates heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in western Maharashtra over the next three days.

As of Wednesday night, the red alert was issued in Kolhapur as the Panchganga river level in the district was just seven feet short of the warning mark. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has deployed 17 teams in areas of Maharashtra that have reported heavy to very heavy rainfall.