Monsoon rains: Schools in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar to remain shut on Thursday

Pedestrians seen in heavy rainfall near Mahalakshmi railway station in Mumbai on July 19, 2023. Photo: Satej Shinde

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday announced holiday in the schools of Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar as a precautionary measure amid a heavy rainfall warning in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

"Schools in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad and Palghar have been given a holiday tomorrow as a precautionary measure," the chief minister told reporters in Mumbai after visiting the disaster management cell in Mantralaya to review the flood situation in the state.

The Chief Minister claimed Mumbai has 110 low-lying areas and there was no waterlogging in the city and traffic remained smooth.

He was apprised of floods due to heavy rains in some areas in Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhdurg, Pune, Satara and Gadchiroli districts.

Shinde also visited the disaster control room of Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation along with some ministers in the evening and took stock of the situation.

Shinde said he spoke with all divisional commissioners and collectors and instructed them to send help to Raigad, battered by heavy rains since Tuesday night, from Panvel and Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporations.

The CM credited the installation of 450 pumps by BMC in 450 areas and the drain cleaning work for the non-accumulation of water on a rainy day in Mumbai.

Amid an orange alert, predicting heavy to very heavy showers at some places, Mumbai received moderate to heavy rainfall till Wednesday evening.

Also read: Heavy rains disrupt train traffic beyond Kalyan in Mumbai; CM denies waterlogging in city

Colaba and Santacruz observatories (indicators for the island city and suburbs) recorded 98.4 mm and 52.8 mm of rainfall, respectively, according to BMC's monsoon updates.

The island city, eastern suburbs and western suburbs received an average rainfall of 58.46 mm, 48.80 mm and 50.63 mm respectively between 8 am and 6 pm.

Reay Road area in Mumbai recorded the highest rainfall at 92.73 mm, followed by 89.67 mm rainfall at suburban Kandivali and 84.84 mm rainfall in Dahisar.

Mumbai saw 27 incidents of tree fall, three of short circuits and two incidents of house or part of house collapse since Wednesday morning.

A five-year-old girl was killed after the slab of the third floor of a ground-plus-five-storey building collapsed in suburban Bhandup in the wee hours, a civic official said.

He said the civic body distributed biscuits to passengers stranded at CSMT in south Mumbai due to train disruption.

Bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking ran as per their proper routes and there was no diversion, a civic official said.

A civic official said the IMD Mumbai in its daily weather forecast predicted "heavy rainfall in the city and suburbs with a possibility of very heavy rainfall at a few places" in the next 24 hours.