Mumbai floods in pre-monsoon rainfall, navy to step in if required

Several parts of Mumbai flooded after moderate rainfall on Thursday, putting a question mark over the city’s preparedness for monsoon and prompting the municipality to reach out to the Indian Navy.

Parts of central Mumbai, Elphinstone Road, Parel, Dadar TT Circle and Hindmata were flooded in the pre-monsoon thundershowers between 11:30am and 12:30pm. The rains stopped at noon, but the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) announced it had cancelled the leaves of its senior officials for the weekend. It asked for three teams of the National Disaster Response Force to be stationed at Parel, Mankhurd (for the eastern suburbs) and Andheri Sports Complex (for the western suburbs).

Navy personnel will be deployed in Colaba, Worli, Ghatkopar, Trombay, Malad for flood rescue if required, said a BMC press release. Mumbai has since morning recorded around 50mm rainfall in Dadar, 20 mm near Dharavi, 15 mm in the eastern suburbs, 26 mm in Goregaon and 18mm in Malad, in the western suburbs, BMC officials said. “There are five pumps working at Hindmata, and water is likely to recede in half and hour,” said Kishore Desai, assistant commissioner of F-South ward.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) reported an average of around 20 mm rainfall in Mumbai, slowing down traffic on the Western Express Highway. Local trains, however, were unaffected.

The IMD has forecast “heavy to very heavy” rainfall along the Maharashtra coast, including Mumbai, and surrounding areas on June 10 and 11.