Sunday morning was quite pleasant for Delhi residents as the rain continued to bring respite from the heatwave. Thundershowers lashed parts of cities as the monsoon advanced over the national capital. Meanwhile, the financial capital Mumbai witnessed a heavy downpour in the last 24 hours during which it recorded a rainfall of 104 mm. According to IMD, the eastern suburbs received a rainfall of 123 mm and the western suburbs received 139 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
The monsoon on Sunday covered both Delhi and Mumbai together for the first time since June 21, 1961, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said. t is the first time since June 21, 1961, that the monsoon arrived in Delhi and Mumbai at the same time," said DS Pai, a senior scientist at the IMD.
The weatherman has sounded an orange alert Raigad and Ratnagiri and a yellow alert for Palghar, Mumbai, Thane, and Sindhudurg. Moderate to heavy rain has been predicted in the suburbs with very heavy rainfall at isolated places. IMD said that southwest monsoon has advanced over Mumbai and Delhi on June 25. Andheri subway was closed after incessant rain caused massive waterlogging here, pictures of which went viral on social media.
Dr Mrityunjay Mohapatra, DG, IMD told ANI, "Southwest monsoon is active now. It has covered the whole of Maharashtra including Mumbai. Monsoon has also arrived in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi and parts of Haryana, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Punjab and Jammu. It will move forward in the next 2 days and will cover other parts also."
The weather department has predicted moderate to intense spells of rain in Sindhudurg, Palghar, Mumbai, and Thane during the next 3-4 hours.
Earlier on Saturday, the BMC urged residents and authorities to remain vigilant and take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety in the face of the expected weather conditions. Following a significant delay in the monsoon, several areas of Mumbai received rain today. As a result, parts of the city experienced severe waterlogging.
In a tweet, the BMC wrote: "As informed by IMD, in view of continuous and more spells expected, Mumbai is being upgraded to Orange Alert for the next 24 hours. Citizens are requested to take necessary precautions."
"The southwest monsoon has advanced further into some more parts of the Central Arabian Sea, some more parts of Maharashtra, remaining parts of Karnataka, Telangana, and Chhattisgarh, some parts of East Madhya Pradesh, some parts of Uttar Pradesh, most parts of Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh, some parts of Haryana, and some parts of Jammu, Kashmir, and Ladakh," the IMD said.
Rainfall is expected to increase gradually over the next four to five days. The IMD had previously issued a 'yellow alert' for Mumbai as well as the neighbouring regions of Palghar and Thane on June 26 and 27.