Rains continue to lash Mumbai, red alert issued for Raigad & Palghar

Mumbai and its suburbs which have been lashed by incessant heavy rains leading to waterlogging, will see no respite and instead experience heavy to very heavy rainfall on Wednesday.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a 'red' alert for Raigad and Palghar districts predicting the regions to witness extremely heavy rainfall.The weather office has issued an ‘orange’ alert for parts of Mumbai and its suburbs.The IMD has predicted moderate rainfall in parts of Sindhduurg, Nandurbar, Dhule, Jalgaon, Sambhajinagar, Ahmednagar, Pune, Nasik, Solapur and Beed districts.The weather office has also forecast the possibility of moderate to intense rainfall in Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar districts.As per the IMD, an ‘orange’ alert is issued when the rainfall ranges between 115.6 mm to 204.4 mm within a day and ‘red’ alert is issued when the rainfall within a day is likely to be over 204.5 mm.A ‘yellow’ alert has been issued for Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nasik, Nandurbar, Jalgaon, Sindhudurg and Dhule districts of Maharashtra.Mumbai, eastern suburbs and western suburbs received 47.42mm, 50.04 mm and 50.99mm rainfall respectively in the last 24 hours.The weather office said a low-pressure area is developing in the Bay of Bengal, which will strengthen the offshore monsoon trough near Maharashtra. "When this system moves closer toward the shore or inland around July 18, Mumbai and adjacent parts of the Konkan will see a monsoon revival,” an IMD scientist said.Meanwhile, NDRF has deployed 12 teams across the state amid heavy rainfall.Schools, colleges closed in MaharashtraDue to heavy rain showers, schools and colleges in several districts of Maharashtra have been shut down on Wednesday.In Raigad district, heavy downpour led to waterlogging, resulting in the Rasayani police station being flooded with water. Reportedly, a village on the river bank was also flooded due to heavy rainfall and the locals had to be shifted to safer areas."Rasayani police station premises has been inundated. Apta village on the river bank has been inundated and people have been shifted to safer places. Situation under control," Raigad Superintendent of Police (SP), Somnath Gharge told ANI.Rains bring Mumbai locals to haltWater-logging following the incessant rains have affected local train services on suburban section. Trains between Badlapur and Ambarnath section in Maharashtra's Thane district adjoining Mumbai came to a halt on Wednesday, officials said.Rail tracks between Badlapur and Ambarnath stations got inundated around 10.30 am, train services on the Panvel-Belapur Harbour Line were also affected by a "point failure" at Panvel around 9.40 am.With inputs from agencies