Mumbai On Rain "Red Alert", No Decision Yet On Closing Schools: 10 Points

Schools and colleges will remain open in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) area today, the civic body said last night, noting that the rainfall was normal and allowed life in the city to proceed smoothly.

"Parents are humbly requested not to believe any other information or rumours regarding school and college holidays and to rely only on official information from the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. The civic administration urges citizens to stay in touch with the management of the concerned schools and colleges for more information," the BMC said in an update.

The police have asked city residents to stay indoors till 8.30 am after the India Meteorological Department (IMD) declared a rain "red alert", or forecast heavy rain, in the coastal city. "IMD has declared a red alert for Mumbai till today morning 8.30 am. Requesting all Mumbaikars to stay indoors, until essential. Please stay safe. Dial 100, 112 in case of emergencies," the Mumbai Police said in a post on X.

No flight cancellations have been reported today yet. All airlines had issued travel advisories last evening in view of heavy rain, but no such advisories have been issued today so far, hinting at normal operations. Eleven flights were cancelled yesterday as heavy rain halted runway operations twice.

A cargo ship that had lost its way amid heavy rain off the Alibaug beach remains stranded in the seas off Colaba. Efforts are on to rescue the 14 crew members from the stranded ship.

The Maharashtra government has urged Karnataka to release more water from Almatti dam to avoid flooding in Sangli and Kolhapur in view of heavy rainfall in the western part of the state.

Mumbai recorded 44 mm rainfall in the city area during the 24 hours until Thursday morning, 90 mm in the eastern suburbs, and 89 mm in the western suburbs.

Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation suspended bus services on at least a dozen routes yesterday. Mumbai's Andheri Subway was also closed due to waterlogging.

National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) teams have been deployed in the city. The army's airlifting teams too have been asked to stay on standby.

Delhi too witnessed heavy overnight showers that inundated the city and led to traffic jams this morning.