DAHISAR RIVER OVERFLOWS

MUMBAI: Heavy rain led to the overflow of the Dahisar river in the northwestern suburbs on Monday and Tuesday, inundating parts of Sanjay Gandhi National Park (SGNP), and causing road damage. Areas within and along the periphery of SGNP in Borivli witnessed waterlogging and the national park office and six structures of staff quarters

was 97% of the seasonal target of 2260.4mm. Similarly south Mumbai recorded 2,038mm for the season so far against the target of 2,066mm, covering 98% of the required rainfall. The highest 24-hour August rain for the decade was recorded on August 30, 2017 at 331.4mm, while the alltime high was on July 23, 1997 at 346.2mm. “As per the accurate forecast, the Konkan coast including Mumbai witnessed intense showers stemming from the low pressure system in north Bay of Bengal . It is likely to continue, and warnings were issued to respective government departments well in advance,” said Mrutyunjay Mohapatra, director-general, IMD.

According to the IMD, the wind speed ranged between 55-60 kmph between 4am and 6am in parts of south Mumbai and 41-45kmph in the suburbs. When cyclone Nisarga had brushed past the city, the wind speed was 92kmph in south Mumbai and 74kmph in the suburbs. “Active monsoon conditions over the Arabian Sea led to were flooded. “All structures had 1.5-foot-high water. More flooding was witnessed along Shanti Van bridge at SGNP’S periphery, which brought traffic to a standstill,” said Vijay Barabde, range forest officer, SGNP. Sunil Limaye, additional principal chief conservator of forest (wildlifewest), said no animals were injured.

high convection and localised circulation that enhanced rain activity, thunderstorms and overnight gusty winds. After a minor break through the day on Tuesday, extremely heavy rain is likely to pick up on Wednesday again,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, IMD.

Independent meteorologists said an offshore trough and a vortex system (localised circulation) were activated on Monday night paving the way for extremely heavy rain. “North Konkan including Mumbai, Palghar, Thane, and Raigad should continue to remain on high alert for the next 48 hours,” said professor Sridhar Balasubramanian, department of mechanical engineering and IDP Climate Studies, Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Like other thunderstorms, the vortex weakened on Tuesday leading to a sharp reduction in rain, said Akshay Deoras, independent meteorologist and PHD researcher at the University of Reading, United Kingdom.