The southwest monsoon reached Mumbai and parts of Maharashtra early Wednesday morning - a day ahead of schedule - with heavy rainfall over the state capital and nearby suburban areas leading to flooded roads and subways, and some disruption in traffic and local train services.
"It's monsoon arrival in Mumbai today," Dr Jayanta Sarkar, the India Meteorological Department's (IMD) Mumbai office chief, was quoted by news agency PTI. The rains are moving faster than expected, having reached Kerala June 3. Earlier it used to set in around June 10.
The weather department has predicted moderate rain or thundershowers in the country's financial capital and surrounding suburbs, with the possibility of heavy, or very heavy, rain, in some places.
Mumbai's Colaba observatory recorded 77 mm of rain in a 24-hour period ending 8.30 am. Around 60 mm of rain was recorded in Santacruz in the same period.
According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation, Mumbai and its eastern and western suburbs recorded 48.49 mm, 66.99 mm and 48.99 mm rain, respectively, in 24 hours ending 8 am.
Belapur recorded 168 mm of rain (152 mm in the past six hours), Chembur and Mumbai Central recorded 125 mm and 112 mm, respectively. Worli and Malvani regions recorded 105 mm each, with Kandivali, Borivali, Mumbra, Powai and Juhu receiving between 71 mm and 94 mm of rainfall.
Waterlogging has been reported from several low-lying areas in Mumbai, including the Gandhi Market area of King Circle, from Sion and the Milan subway in Vile Parle.
Visuals from the Milan subway showed autos and two-wheelers wading through knee-deep water. A video from Sion showed roads already flooded with ankle-deep water. Another video - of the Western Express Highway - showed overcast skies with the horizon shrouded in dark grey clouds.
Local train services - the lifeblood of the city - have been largely unaffected so far, although services from the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) to Kurla have been suspended since 9.50 am due to waterlogging and heavy rainfall and waterlogging between Sion and Kurla.
Some train services have been disrupted due to the monsoons
The CSMT-Thane service has been suspended from 10.20 am.
Heavy rain and waterlogging near the Chunabhatti Railway Station - on the Harbour Line of the Mumbai Suburban Railway network - led to suspension of the CMST-Vashi service from 10.20 am.
Traffic will resume once water levels recedes, a Central Railway spokesperson told news agency ANI.
The routes of some BEST buses - the city's public transport provider - have also been diverted.
A high tide of 4.16 metres is expected at 11.43 am, the Mumbai municipal corporation has said.
The monsoon is expected to advance further into Maharashtra today and move into Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, as well as Odisha and Bengal, over the next 48 hours.
With input from ANI, PTI
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