New Delhi:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted thunderstorms and moderate-to-heavy rains till Saturday, a forecast that has raised concerns with monsoon yet to arrive in the city.
Parts of Maharashtra may witness heavy rain with thunder and gusty winds between May 21 and 24 following a cyclonic circulation which is likely to form over the east-central Arabian Sea off the Karnataka coast, Met department officials told PTI. The weather system is expected to impact parts of Maharashtra, including south Konkan, south central Maharashtra and Mumbai, and will bring heavy rains along with gusty winds reaching speeds of 30-40 kmph or higher.
Heavy rains, thunderstorm and lightning brought Mumbai to a standstill on Tuesday, resulting in flooding and rain-related incidents.
The average rainfall recorded between 8 am on May 20 and 8 am on May 21 was 24 mm in the city, 26 mm in the eastern suburbs, and 40 mm in the western suburbs. The pre-monsoon showers led to traffic snarls. The Andheri subway, a key connector between the western and eastern suburbs, was inundated. Suburban train commuters claimed local services were running with some delays though Railway authorities said they were unaffected.
29 incidents of trees falling were reported, a portion of a house collapsed and a fire was reported in the city on Tuesday, per IANS.
As of Tuesday, departures from Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport are running with an average delay of 22 minutes, as per FlightRadar24.
There are only 2 consequences of the @mybmc‘s pre-monsoon preparedness budget – either it gets stuck like this bus at the Dahisar subway in corrupt schemes or it goes down the drain like all the sludge, garbage and even vehicles at Sakinaka! #MumbaiRains #waterlogging #drains pic.twitter.com/aADTO5jWxu
— Prof. Varsha Eknath Gaikwad (@VarshaEGaikwad) May 20, 2025
Rain-related incidents were witnessed in Pune, with water leakage being reported at the city’s airport. Local residents claimed water from unclean drains overflowed onto the streets.
Ratnagiri, May 20 Train services on the Konkan Railway route were disrupted on Tuesday following a landslide between Vervali and Vilavade stations in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district. A large boulder fell on the tracks at around 6.30 pm amid heavy rainfall, affecting the rail traffic on the busy 741-kilometre-long route that connects Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka. Services resumed around 8 pm. Trains continued to run with delays amid rains.
Rains also lashed Goa, with IndiGo issuing an advisory warning that flight operations may be impacted, leading to possible delays or disruptions. Two flights, originating from Pune and Mumbai, respectively, were diverted from Goa International Airport at Dabolim due to poor visibility on Tuesday evening.
The Met Department has warned that light to moderate rainfall with light thunderstorms and gusty winds are very likely to continue at a few places over North Goa and South Goa today. IMD Goa station in-charge NP Kulkarni told ANI, “We have given orange warning for two days and after that we are shifting to yellow warning. For today, we predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall and it will be same tomorrow also.”
The IMD has predicted the onset of monsoon in Kerala on May 27, the earliest since 2009.