The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Thane, Palghar, Raigad and Mumbai on Saturday afternoon. The region is expected to receive heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next two days.
"We expect the rainfall activity to continue over the next two days due to the low pressure which has formed over the Bay of Bengal and is moving westward. It is expected to strengthen westerly winds. Besides, the increasing low pressure closer to parts of north Konkan, which includes Mumbai, is expected to have a larger impact," KS Hosalikar, the deputy director-general (western region) of the IMD told Times of India
Areas like Badlapur, Navi Mumbai and Thane have been experiencing heavy rains since Friday morning.
"The winds were all westerly which pushed the clouds towards the Kalyan-Badlapur belt. On Friday and Saturday, the circulation was close to Mumbai which then moved towards Kalyan and Badlapur. Fortunately for Mumbai, the winds were very strong so the clouds did not stay in the city for long. They were all pushed to the interior areas towards Thane and beyond. Yet, Santacruz got 219mm, which is extremely heavy rain," Sridhar Balasubramanian, associate faculty, IDP Climate Studies at IIT-Bombay was quoted as saying by TOI.
A thousand passengers. including nine pregnant women, were stranded outside Mumbai in the Mahalakshmi Express because of waterlogging. Over 20 coaches had gone underwater when the train stopped near the overflowing Ulhas River in Badlapur.
The Indian Air Force, National Disaster Response Force and the Navy conducted a rescue operation to take the stranded passengers on Kolhapur-bound Mahalaxmi Express near Badlapur to safety. The operation lasted for 10 hours
