Weather update: IMD issues orange alert for weekend, warns of very heavy rain

Several districts of Maharashtra continued to receive heavy rainfall on Saturday prompting multiple alerts across the stateIn its latest weather update the India Meteorological Department IMD has issued an orange alert for state capital Mumbai and its neighbouring district of Thane warning of ldquoheavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated placesrdquo For Sunday the weather bureau has issued a yellow alert predicting heavy rainfall for both the citiesAn orange alert has also been issued for Raigad district for both days of the weekend For Palghar however the weather bureau has issued a red alert for Saturday indicating ldquoheavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated placesrdquo A red alert has also been issued for the Pune Ghat region as well as Chandrapur and Gondia districts urging district administrations to remain vigilantThunderstorms accompanied by lightning and gusty winds are expected in Dhule Nandurbar and Jalgaon districts and parts of Marathwada and VidarbhaIn the past 24 hours Mumbai received 972 mm of rainfall followed by Thane 85 mm Gadchiroli 576 mm Gondia 546 mm and Raigad 535 mmAccording to the Indian National Centre for Ocean Information Services INCOIS high tidal waves ranging from 42 to 47 metres are expected until July 28 across Mumbai Thane Palghar Raigad Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg Thus the fisherfolk and small boat operators have been cautioned against venturing into the seaSeveral rivers including Kundalika and Savitri in Raigad and the Jagbudi river in Ratnagiri have crossed the warning level Residents in lowlying areas have been asked to stay alert In Nashik the Waghad dam has reached 98 per cent of its capacity with potential water discharge expected into the Vaitarna river Similar controlled discharges have been reported from Pavana and Khadakwasla dams in Pune districtRainrelated incidents in statePalghar district reported one rainrelated death after a person swept away in the floodwatersHeavy rainfall triggered a landslide on the MumbaiPune Expressway near Khopoli While the debris was cleared quickly traffic movement was briefly affected on the highwayMumbai which experienced very heavy rainfall in isolated areas reported tree falls at 27 locations and five instances of partial house collapses No injuries have been reported in these incidentsIn Gadchirolis Bhamragad taluka floodwaters damaged the bridge connecting Nimamabad and Gidalpur though vehicular movement has now resumedAs a precautionary measure the State Disaster Response Force SDRF and National Disaster Response Force NDRF teams have been deployed in some districts A total of 18 NDRF teams and six SDRF teams have been prepositioned across the state including in Mumbai Thane and RaigadOfficials have advised citizens to avoid unnecessary travel stay away from vulnerable structures and follow updates from local authorities