Mumbai Rains: One dead in tree collapse incident; yellow alert in Mumbai, Thane, Palghar

Maharashtra Congress chief Harshwardhan Sapkal Tuesday demanded the government to announce Rs 20,000 per acre and Rs 50,000 per hectare financial aid to farmers who have suffered losses due to heavy rainfall "instead of wasting time in doing Panchnama."

Sapkal said, "Union Home Minister Amit Shah is in Maharashtra for three days. What is he doing? Has he forgotten his promises made during the poll campaign? Home Minister should make the announcement of farm loan waiver."

Firefighters reached Navi Mumbai's Belapur district to drain rainwater as heavy rainfall hit parts of the city over the past 24 hours.

(Express Photos by Narendra Vaskar)

The first spell of monsoon rain caught Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation completely off-guard on Monday. As Mumbai witnessed the earliest onset of monsoon in its history, bringing the city to a near halt, the rains led to inundation of low-lying areas like King’s Circle to locations like Hindmata and Gandhi Market for several hours early in the morning and afternoon.

While the deadline for the BMC to complete all pre-monsoon preparations that includes essential infrastructure works such as road repairs, drain cleaning, and flood mitigation efforts is the first week of June, the early onset of rains caught the authorities, IMD and Mumbaikars off-guard.

Sources said that the Monday’s mayhem was largely a result of incomplete pre-monsoon work undertaken by BMC–desilting of drains and rivers and installation of dewatering pumps–and that led to issues of waterlogging and other related problems across the city. Besides, sources in the civic authority claim that the concretisation of dug up roads that were targeted till arrival of monsoon, also could not be completed.

Read what paralysed Mumbai as heavy rainfall battered the city yesterday!

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Tuesday placed Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg and Ratnagiri districts under ‘red’ alert for the next 24 hours, while Raigad has been kept under an ‘orange’ alert.

While the ‘red’ alert in Mumbai came to an end today morning, generally cloudy skies, moderate spell of rainfall, accompanied by thunder, lightning, and gusty winds at isolated places will continue throughout the day.

Western Railway services from Borivali to Churchgate is running normal, even as heavy rains continued to lash parts of Maharashtra on Monday, however, with lesser number of passengers.

Train services in Mumbai were affected on Monday as heavy rains lashed the city. With railway tracks inundated, the Central Railways had terminated some train services at Dadar, Kurla and Byculla due to water logging on the tracks. Services on the fast track were also affected.

At around 1 pm, the CR stated that services on the fast track had been restored with services being run at cautious speed.

The CR also rescheduled the departure of several long distance trains due to heavy rains.

Trains on the Western Line were also severely affected with services running late by over 20 minutes.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday morning upgraded the existing ‘orange’ alert to ‘red’ alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Ratnagiri districts, forecasting extremely heavy rainfall coupled with thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds at isolated places.

The red alert will be in place in these districts till Tuesday morning.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) data, most severe waterlogging was reported in the Island City division.

Meanwhile, the suburban pockets recorded less showers during the same period.

While Santacruz recorded 103 mm rain, Bandra received 101 mm rain, followed by 82 mm rain in Chembur and 73 mm rain in Kurla.

As heavy pre-monsoon showers lashed Mumbai on Monday, large parts of the city reported severe waterlogging, prompting sharp criticism from Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, who accused the BJP-led Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) of administrative failure.

“Waterlogging has returned to areas that had been made flood-free during our tenure. The absolute apathy of the BJP government that has controlled the BMC for the past three years has led to Mumbai coming to a standstill today,” Thackeray said in a statement.

One of the key locations he pointed to was Hindmata — long known as a flood-prone zone — which had undergone major infrastructure upgrades in 2021–22. “The Hindmata area, which we made waterlogging-free, is submerged again today only because the BMC did not initiate the water-pumping process on time,” he said.

Thackeray also cited last week’s incidents of waterlogging at Andheri Subway and Saki Naka, noting that the number of affected areas had since grown. “Today, it is many more areas that are suffering under the BJP’s terrible governance,” he added.

Questioning the civic body’s preparedness, he alleged: “Why does the BJP hate Mumbai so much that it has left the city grappling with roads half dug up, nullahs not cleaned, and more flooding than ever before?”

Despite the civic body’s claims of pre-monsoon readiness, several parts of the city remained waterlogged for hours on Monday, affecting traffic and daily life. Officials said dewatering pumps had been deployed and emergency teams were on the ground, but many residents took to social media to express frustration over delays and poor communication.

Up and Down Harbour Line services between Wadala Road and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) were temporarily suspended due to waterlogging at Masjid station.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Monday morning upgraded the existing ‘yellow’ alert for Mumbai to an ‘orange’ alert, forecasting heavy to very heavy spell of rainfall coupled with thunderstorm, lightning and winds passing at a speed of 60 kmph.

The orange alert will be in place in Mumbai, Thane, and Raigad districts till 8.30 am on May 27 (Tuesday).

The maximum and minimum temperatures are likely to be around 31 degrees Celsius and 24 degrees Celsius.

With heavy rainfall continuing to lash several parts of Maharashtra, including Mumbai, Konkan, and Western Maharashtra, Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde Monday directed the state administration to remain on high alert and ensure timely relief and rescue efforts. He also appealed to citizens to follow weather advisories and avoid stepping out unless necessary.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecasted intense rainfall in the coming hours, particularly in coastal and western regions. In view of this, Dy CM Shinde held a review meeting on the situation in rain-hit districts such as Thane, and interacted with disaster management officials to assess preparedness.

Emphasizing the need to prevent any loss of life or property, Shinde instructed officials to keep all emergency response systems fully equipped and operational. “Ensure swift and effective rescue operations wherever needed. Pay special attention to waterlogged roads, bridges, power lines, and dangerous or dilapidated buildings,” he said.

He also highlighted the need to maintain suburban rail services in cities like Mumbai and Thane, and to manage crowd movement in case of disruptions.

The Deputy Chief Minister urged citizens to follow weather advisories, avoid stepping out unless necessary, and remain cautious—especially those residing in low-lying areas. “The administration is fully prepared to assist, but public cooperation is equally important,” he added.

Currently, districts such as Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, and Nashik are experiencing heavy rainfall.

Five trees in Western suburbs and four in Mumbai's island city collapsed amid heavy rainfall, thunderstorms and lightning across Mumbai, as per the BMC disaster cell.

According to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation’s (BMC) Disaster Cell, here's the list of locations where waterlogging has been recorded:

Sion Circle

Dadar TT

Hindmata

JJ Madavi Post Office

Kurne Chowk

Bindu Madhav Junction Worli

Macharji Joshi Marg - King’s circle (Five Garden)

Heavy traffic observed on the Western Express Highway with vehicles taking over an hour to cover a 15 km stretch from Kandivali to Santa Cruz.

Mumbai's Colaba coastal observatory has recorded the wettest May month ever, shattering the previous record of 279.4 mm rain in the May of 1918.

So far, this month, the Colaba coastal observatory has recorded 295 mm rain while the Santacruz station has recorded 197.8 mm rain so far.

Mumbai’s island city and suburbs recorded heavy rainfall throughout Sunday night.

According to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), the island city recorded 58 mm of average rainfall followed by 19 mm in eastern suburbs and 15 mm in the western suburbs till Monday morning.

Between 6 and 7 am, the highest rainfall was recorded in Nariman Point at 40 mm, followed by 36 mm at Grant road, and 31 mm at Colaba.

Incessant rains have battered parts of Pune over the last few days, leading many to wonder whether monsoon has already arrived in the city. According to Anupam Kashyapi, former head of weather forecasting at India Meteorological Department (IMD), the most likely date for the onset of monsoon in Pune is May 28.

The recent rains have sparked both anxiety and enthusiasm among farmers. Ganesh Nanote, a farmer from Akola district, notedthe r ain has disrupted pre-sowing land preparation for crops such as moong and urad beans.

"Our main concern is the second week of June. If the current rainfall trend continues, we will have no complaints. However, if that week turns dry, we could face significant problems," he said.

The weather agency sounded a red alert over Ratnagiri, Satara, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg districts for the next 24 hours predicting very heavy rainfall.

“Low pressure over the Arabian Sea has turned into a depression and is expected to enter Ratnagiri district,” it added.

This is followed by an orange alert extending till Wednesday (May 28).

Mumbai and Thane are under a yellow alert till Wednesday, indicating moderate to heavy spells of rainfall coupled with thunderstorms and gusty winds.

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