The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai on Sunday, forecasting very heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rain at isolated locations, even as the city woke up to a brief respite after relentless overnight showers.
In view of the forecast, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) appealed to residents to remain alert and step outdoors only if absolutely necessary.
Heavy rain continued to batter Mumbai and neighbouring regions through the night before easing slightly by Sunday morning. The IMD has also predicted occasional gusty winds of 55-65 kmph over the city and suburbs.
Public transport services, including Metro and BEST buses, were operating normally on Sunday morning. However, commuters reported delays in suburban train services.
The BMC urged citizens to strictly follow official advisories and contact its helpline 1916 in case of emergencies. It also advised people to exercise caution in low-lying areas and along the coastline, with a 4.19-metre high tide expected at 3.22 pm on Sunday, followed by another 3.51-metre high tide at 3.41 am on Monday.
Several parts of Mumbai recorded exceptionally heavy rainfall over the past 24 hours.
According to BMC's automatic rain gauge network, multiple locations received more than 200 mm of rain, while a few recorded over 300 mm.
The highest rainfall of 310.6 mm was recorded at the Building Proposal Office in Vikhroli West, followed by 306.6 mm at the Colaba Pumping Station and 301.8 mm at Tagore Nagar Municipal School in Vikhroli.
Other areas that received more than 200 mm of rainfall included Malabar Hill, Mandavi Fire Station, Colaba, Memonwada Fire Station, Vikhroli Fire Station, Paspoli Municipal School in Powai, Bhandup Complex, Andheri Fire Station, Chakala Municipal School, Jogeshwari and Aarey Colony in Goregaon.
On Saturday, torrential rain inundated low-lying areas, triggered road cave-ins, tree falls and house collapses, and disrupted road and rail traffic across Mumbai. Neighbouring Thane, Palghar, Navi Mumbai and parts of the Pune region also witnessed widespread waterlogging, landslides, road closures and evacuations from flooded localities.
Suburban train services on both the Central and Western Railway lines were disrupted for some time on Saturday after tracks were submerged at multiple locations, while Metro Line 2A services were briefly affected due to a technical snag.
(With inputs from PTI)