Mumbai rains: ‘City not prepared for the monsoon this time’

Mumbaikars get respite from hot and humid weather as the monsoon finally arrived Two days ahead of its original onset date the Southwest monsoon officially entered Mumbai accompanied by thunder and lightningThe city and its suburbs have already received good rain early Sunday morning with the Santacruz observatory recording 20 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours Dahisar and Borivli received the heaviest rainfall in the last 24 hours recorded till at 830 amConfirming the development Sushma Nair a scientist with India Meteorological Department IMD Mumbai said ldquoSouthwest monsoon 2024 onset over Mumbai started on June 9 This is two days ahead of its normal estimated date of arrival on June 11rdquoThe weather during the day remained partly sunny and partly cloudy however this helped weather across the city and adjoining areas to cool down a bitTalking about the rainfall the city received Rajesh Kapadia of Vagaries of Weather said ldquoReceived premonsoon showers on Saturday night This is due to the upper air circulation UAC stationed at South Konkan and bringing in moisture UAC is expected to move away and result in NW winds which can stall the monsoon by another 24 hrs over Mumbai The Mumbai Metropolitan Region too received good thundershowers overnightrdquoMeanwhile Mahesh Palawat vice president of Meteorology and Climate Change at Skymet Weather a private weather forecasting agency said As predicted monsoon reached Mumbai and Pune on June 9 Keeping pace with the normal dates of the onset monsoon line passing through Thane Ahmednagar and BeedAs per Skymet weather favourable weather systems are contributing to this early arrival of the monsoon A cyclonic circulation over Saurashtra and Kutch along with a trough extending from the Maharashtra coast to Kerala is pulling in monsoon currents This will lead to increased rainfall activity across Mumbai Pune and surrounding districtsIt added With the official arrival of the monsoon in Mumbai temperatures are expected to take a welcome dip providing muchneeded relief from the recent hot weather conditionsMonsoon woesResidents fear a challenging monsoon season due to numerous dugup sites and ongoing construction work in the cityldquoThere is no link between the BMC and the people There are so many issues and the BMC is illprepared for the monsoon this time Nullah cleaning work in many areas is incomplete There are potholes and cracks everywhere which the BMC has not filled By the end of May our citizens group was invited to monsoon preparedness meetings with public representatives We had the chance to meet many officials and those incharge but when we complained there was no response Corporators previously got work done at the local level fearing public wrath but now even that has stoppedrdquo said Gopal Jhaveri a resident of BorivliNikhil Desai a citybased civic activist and resident of King Circle said Major nullahs have been cleaned but minor nullahs and stormwater drains SWDs are still incomplete which will lead to waterloggingrdquo59mmRainfall recorded in BorivliAreawise rainfall recordedBorivli West 59 mmDahisar West 58 mmAarey 54 mmJogeshwari East 45 mmMagathane 43 mmPowai 34 mmAndheri 33 mmMulund West 32 mm