WEEKEND IS WASHED OUT
The city and suburbs are being battered by incessant rain and gusty winds since Saturday evening. If that was not bad enough, the season’s biggest high tide lashed the city’s promenades and waterfronts at 13.39 hrs -- of 4.97 meters – leaving behind a trail of garbage and muck.
There was bad news on another front: Seven occupants of two cars died in a collision on Mumbai-Pune Highway, which is being attributed to rain and poor visibility. Also, unmindful of warnings from authorities, a tourist strayed into the Ghidad waterfall behind Bhushi dam and was drowned. Also, a woman died in Ulhasnagar when a slab of a building at Bhatia chowk fell on her.
Suburban train services were not only erratic, they had to be suspended briefly on the Western Railway. The evening disruption came on the heels of an alert from a citizen about the condition of the subway between Khar
and Santacruz. The services were resumed only after the site was inspected and certified by engineers.
There may be little respite on Monday and Tuesday with the IMD predicting intermittent showers in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region.
As is the ritual, Mumbaikars converged at Marine Drive, Worli waterfront and picnic spots in Malshej Ghat and Bhushi dam. But, alas, heavy rainfall in Mumbai, Thane and Raigad was a killjoy. Only high tide buffs had their momentary thrills.
But the tide brought with it mounds of trash, a grim reminder of what remains of the Mumbai eco system.
The Modak Sagar in Thane district has started overflowing; and so, is the Tulsi lake.
Vasai seems destined to stay submerged this monsoon as heavy rain pounded the Palghar district yet again.
A picture has gone viral in social media, which shows a body of a woman being ferried on the roof of an auto rickshaw through a waterlogged street.
There was heavy rainfall in the hill station of Mahabaleshwar in Satara district. After a gap of over one-and-a-half month, Nashik district too received heavy rainfall. The river Godavari emanates in Nashik district.
According to weather experts at Skymet, a cyclonic circulation is hovering over South Coastal Gujarat and adjoining regions. Simultaneously, an off shore trough is running along the Maharashtra Coast to Kerala. In wake of these weather systems, heavy to very rainfall will continue along the Maharashtra coast, including in Mumbai, Ratnagiri, Alibag, Harnai, Matheran, Mahabaleshwar and Dahanu. Mumbai rain will also increase in intensity, leading to water logging. However, Madhya Maharashtra will receive light to moderate rain at many places. That is good news for Pune, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara.