Met predicts heavy rains for today and tomorrow

 

Mumbai: It was a dark and overcast sky that greeted the city on Monday morning, and by late afternoon, Mumbaikars got what they had been praying for — the season’s first fairly heavy rainfall. While the temperatures seem to have dipped by a degree or two, the relative humidity on Monday morning reached an all-time high.
    The maximum temperature recorded in Colaba and Santa Cruz were 31.1 degree Celsius and 32.2 degree Celsius respectively, and the relative humidity was 98% and 77% respectively.
    “With humidity levels that high, it came as no surprise when the city witnessed a downpour,’’ said an official from the weather bureau. While Colaba saw 79.8 mm of rainfall, Santa Cruz recorded 56.9 mm. The Western suburbs received a high average with 65.67 mm as compared to the eastern suburbs (39.7 mm) and the island city which recorded 34.39 mm rain.
    Some parts of the city such as Dharavi, Chembur, Gawan and Goregaon remained almost dry till evening. With a total of 139.97 mm, Kandivli got the highest amount of rainfall on Monday, with Borivli (124.69 mm), Malad (132.58 mm), CST (104.65 mm), and Dahisar (100.57 mm) following suit.
    While catchment areas received no rain in the morning, things were looking brighter by Monday evening. According to officials, catchment areas received 83 mm of rain in four hours. However, the water cuts will continue.
    Civic officials said that unless the levels in the lakes rise significantly, the water crisis plaguing Mumbai is far from over. The city is currently reeling under a 15% water cut; for commercial institutions it is 30%.
    Currently, the stock in the lakes stands at 0.7 lakh litres. The amount of water last year this time was 2 lakh litres.
    Every year, by the end of the monsoon in October, the lakes are expected to have a stock of 13 lakh litres. This ensures a steady supply of water to the city for the entire dry period to follow until the next monsoon. Last year, because of inadequate rainfall, the water stock in the lakes was a little less than 10 lakh litres.
    The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted good rains for Mumbai on Tuesday and Wednesday. “Widespread rains and thundershowers will occur over Konkan and Goa till June 17,’’ said a weather official.