Flights, railways hit as Mumbai records heaviest rainfall in 107yrs
What's the story
Mumbai has recorded its heaviest rainfall for May in 107 years, with Colaba receiving a whopping 295mm of rain on Monday.
The previous record was 279.4mm, set in 1918.
The Santacruz observatory also recorded a significant amount of rain this month, although it is still short of the all-time May record of 387.8mm set in 2000.
Transport impact
Heavy rainfall disrupts Mumbai's transport system
The incessant rainfall led to waterlogging in low-lying areas like Kurla, Sion, Dadar, and Parel and on railway tracks, disrupting road traffic and local train services.
Local train services on all three major lines—Central, Western, and Harbour—were running behind schedule due to the severe rains hammering the city.
Central Railway's Swapnil Nila confirmed that "the movement of suburban locals is on, but with reduced speed at few locations."
Metro
Some metro lines affected
Mumbai Metro's Line-3 services have also been disrupted owing to floods at the Acharya Atre Chowk station.
The aqua line station has now been closed, and metro services are only available up to Worli Station, according to the official X handle for Mumbai Metro-3.
Some flights moving to and from Mumbai were also affected, with airlines like SpiceJet and Air India issuing advisories, asking passengers to keep a check on their flight status.
Weather alert
Monsoon arrives early
The southwest monsoon arrived in Maharashtra on Sunday, marking the state's earliest annual rainfall season in 35 years, according to the meteorology department.
The monsoon is predicted to reach Bengaluru and parts of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu during the next three days.
The monsoon came in Kerala on Saturday, about a week before the typical start date of June 1.
Weather update
Red alert for Mumbai
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Mumbai and neighboring areas of Thane and Raigad in Maharashtra.
"People should remain on alert as heavy rain is expected between 2pm-4pm today. There is a team of a NDRF team present in Mumbai. Recently, the CM held a meeting with the Disaster Management Dept and other agencies," Maharashtra water resources and disaster management minister Girish Mahajan said.