By IANS,
Mumbai : Barely a fortnight after a worried Maharashtra government declared a drought-like situation in the state, heavy rain lashed the state, wiping out the rainfall deficit in most districts in just two days, officials said Monday.
Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and Sawantwadi districts have had torrential rainfall since Saturday.
According to the meteorological department, south Mumbai received 67.4 mm of rainfall while suburban Mumbai got 47.7 mm since Sunday. Till Monday morning, the excess rainfall recorded in these two areas since June 1 was 339.4 mm and 511.8 mm respectively.
The weather forecast till Wednesday evening is unabated heavy to very heavy rains, accompanied by strong winds, which will be between 50 to 70 kmph.
Ports authorities said cautionary signal number three (LC-III) had been hoisted at all ports from Dahanu to Goa. In view of the very rough sea Arabian Sea, fishermen have been warned against venturing out into the Arabian Sea.
Official sources said the heavy rainfall had eased the water deficit in the Koyna Dam, where the levels had plummetted to just 20 percent of its capacity last week, while several big and small rivers across the state were either full or in flood.
Although there has been no official announcement from the state energy department so far, it is expected that the power situation is likely to ease soon, according to an official.
He said there might be some relief in power cuts – upto 14 hours a day in some areas – over the next few days, but declined to specify the time-period.
Among the places that experienced heavy rains, the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar in the Western Ghats, around 280 km from here, recorded 422 mm rains in the past two days.
The steady downpour has resulted in traffic slowing down in Mumbai. However, a railway spokesperson said train services had not been disrupted. Flights to and from Mumbai were also not affected.