Heavy rains to continue in Konkan region and Goa, says IMD; Mumbai likely to experience thundershowers today

A day after monsoon marked its official arrival in Mumbai, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has further predicted heavy rains over the south Konkan region and Goa on Sunday. “Heavy to very heavy” rains are likely at isolated places over north Konkan, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura, Vidarbha and Gangetic West Bengal, while a few places over coastal Karnataka and isolated places over Uttarakhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Assam and Meghalaya, Odisha, south-central Maharashtra, south interior Karnataka and Kerala, Madhya Pradesh are likely to experience heavy rainfall. Thunderstorms accompanied with gusty winds and lightning are “very likely” at isolated places over Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Chandigarh and Delhi, east Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Uttar Pradesh. Squally winds speed reaching 40­-50 kilometres per hour gusting to 60 kilometres per hour are verly likely along and off Kerala­, Karnataka­, and Maharashtra coasts, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and also over Odisha and West Bengal coasts and the north Bay of Bengal. Fishermen have been advised to not venture into eastcentral, westcentral and southwest Arabian Sea, Odisha and West Bengal coasts and north Bay of Bengal at least till 11 June as sea condition is expected to be “rough to very rough”, the IMD said. [caption id=“attachment_4504069” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Vehicles and pedestrians wade through a water logged street following heavy monsoon showers in Mumbai on Saturday. PTI[/caption] Maharashtra rains forecast The IMD has forecast thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds at many places and heavy rainfall at isolated places in Mumbai till Sunday. In Maharashtra, five districts including Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg are expected to witness rainfall at most places with “heavy to very heavy” rainfall very likely at few places on Sunday. The rainfall activity over interior parts of peninsular India is very likely to reduce substantially from 12 June, according to the IMD. Moderate to heavy showers over next 24 hours in Mumbai According to private weather forecast agency Skymet Weather, an off trough is currently running along the west coast from Maharashtra to Kerala, while another trough is running from east Uttar Pradesh to Telangana across Vidarbha. This could result in “moderate to heavy showers” over Vidarbha, Marathwada, and Konkan and Goa including Mumbai for the next 24 hours from Saturday. Dust storms kill 26 in Uttar Pradesh, two dead in Maharashtra Twenty-six people were killed in dust storms and lightning that struck parts of Uttar Pradesh on Friday, while two persons died on Saturday in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra. There were reports of rains in Punjab, Haryana and some parts of Uttar Pradesh, which had been sweating it out in sweltering conditions. As many as 26 people were killed due to dust storms and lightning strikes in Uttar Pradesh, a government spokesperson told PTI. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has directed the district magistrates of the affected areas to immediately provide compensation to families of those killed and said no laxity will be tolerated. In Maharashtra’s Thane district, fisherman Steni Admani (66) was struck by lightning at around 6 am. He died on the spot, chief of the District Disaster Control Cell Shivaji Patil told PTI. Six others, who were out in the open at that time, were also injured due to the lightning strike and have been admitted to a local hospital. A woman, who was riding pillion on a two-wheeler died after the vehicle rammed into a truck on the GB Road in Thane. An official said heavy rains apparently led to the accident. Rain brings relief to New Delhi A dust storm, with winds gusting up to 70 kilometres per hour, hit New Delhi on Saturday, bringing some relief from the searing heat. As many as 35 incoming flights were diverted from the Indira Gandhi International Airport on Saturday evening following a powerful dust storm and rain, the Airports Authority of India (AAI) said. According to AAI, the diversions took place between 5 pm and 6 pm.

Due to inclement weather in Delhi, 35 flights were diverted to nearby airports. Flights could not be operated at @DelhiAirport from 5PM to 5:57PM. Our Delhi ATC managing diversions & bringing back diverted flights in safe, orderly & expeditious manner. Safe flights our prime aim. pic.twitter.com/FNFBjCW5bh

— Airports Authority of India (@AAI_Official) June 9, 2018

Light rain was witnessed in many areas. The dust storm pushed the temperature down by a few notches on what was a sultry day. The city recorded a high of 40.5 degrees Celsius and a low of 30 degrees Celsius, according to the Met office. The humidity levels were recorded at 71 percent. The weatherman forecast dust storm in Ghaziabad, Meerut, Baghpat and other adjoining districts in western Uttar Pradesh. Sultry conditions abated in Haryana and Punjab after rains. Chandigarh, which received rainfall earlier in the day, had a high of 33.8 degrees Celsius, down five notches against normal. In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 31.7 degrees Celsius after rains. Haryana’s Ambala, lashed by a heavy downpour, recorded a high of 31.9 degrees Celsius. However, Hisar and Bhiwani continued to brave the hot weather at 41 and 41.4 degrees Celsius. The local weather office predicted thunderstorm and gusty winds at several places in the two states. The coastal districts of Udupi, Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and south interior districts of Kodagu, Shivamogga and Chikkamagaluru have been receiving heavy rainfall over the last few days due to an active Southwest Monsoon in the state. Schools and colleges were shut in the coastal districts of Karnataka on Saturday due to heavy monsoon rains lashing the region. Heavy downpour batters Mumbai On Saturday, Maharashtra's capital received heavy rainfall following the onset of the southwest monsoon, leading to a slight delay in the running of suburban trains. The IMD declared the onset of the monsoon over Mumbai, the adjoining Thane-Konkan areas, Ahmednagar, Parbhani and other parts of Maharashtra. According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the city received 76 millimetres rains till Saturday evening (6 pm), and the eastern and western suburbs received 28 millimetres and 32 millimetres, respectively. Meanwhile, trains in the suburban section of the Central Railway were running late by 10 to 12 minutes due to the downpour, but there was no cancellation of trains, an official said. Another official said Central Railway suburban services were delayed because of water-logging on tracks between Matunga and Sion. According to an airport official, two flights had to be diverted due to bad weather. A statement from Jet Airways said, “Due to air traffic congestion, consequent to adverse weather conditions, we are expecting delays of up to 40 minutes on departures and 20 minutes on arrivals at Mumbai airport until 3 pm. In central Mumbai’s Prabhadevi, four people were injured when the slab of a building situated on Veer Savarkar Marg collapsed this morning, a civic official said. Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation Deputy Municipal Commissioner Kishore Kshirsagar told reporters that areas like Hindmata, Dharavi, and Parel received more than 100 mm of rainfall, resulting in water-logging. He said the civic administration had undertaken road repair works at 120 places, adding that there was no water-logging on Andheri-Kurla Road, Santacruz, Oberoi Mall and Lokhandwala Circle in the suburban part of the city. More than 3,000 civic employees were out on the streets monitoring the situation, Kshirsagar said. In the neighbouring Navi Mumbai, heavy rains with gusty winds uprooted more than a dozen trees leading to huge traffic jams and hampering movement in different parts of the satellite city. With inputs from PTI and IANS