Rain Relief for Mumbai, IMD Downgrades 'Red' Alert to 'Orange'

After four days of downpour, Mumbai got respite from heavy showers on Friday as normal life got back on track, while the Met office downgraded the rainfall alert to “orange” for the day from “red” earlier.After heavy showers in the city and its adjoining areas since Monday, the rain intensity started subsiding from Thursday afternoon. The financial capital and its neighbouring towns witnessed cloudy skies throughout Friday with sporadic rains.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) downgraded the rainfall alert for Mumbai to “orange” for the day from “red” issued on Thursday.The Met department had also said there was a possibility of occasional strong winds reaching 40-50 kmph, civic officials said.

The IMD’s Mumbai centre, however, did not give any explanation for scaling down the red alert status. A red alert indicates possibility of heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours. An orange alert shows likelihood of heavy to very heavy rain at a few places, while heavy rainfall at a few places and extremely heavy rains at isolated places.

Due to the red alert, five teams of the NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) were deployed in the metropolis and the civic body was also geared up to face any eventuality.In the “district forecast and warning for next 5 days” released around 1 am, the IMD issued orange alert for Mumbai and its adjoining Thane and Palghar districts, but kept red alert unchanged for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in the coastal Konkan region.

In the 24-hour period ended 8 am on Friday, the island city (south Mumbai), its eastern suburbs and western suburbs recorded an average rainfall of 28.08 mm, 32.64 mm and 51.96 mm, respectively, a civic official said.Buses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) and suburban train services, considered the lifeline of Mumbai, operated normally as there was no water-logging anywhere, he said.

However, some suburban trains are slightly behind schedule, he said.

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