Mumbai: Schools-colleges closed, but rain forecast turns a damp squib
Mumbai: With the weather department issuing a 'red alert' for rain in Mumbai, the Maharashtra government declared a holiday for schools and colleges in the city on Thursday.
However, as people geared up to tackle the situation, the high rainfall warning turned out to be a damp squib as the city hardly received any showers till Thursday afternoon.
While the city received some showers late Wednesday night, it remained almost dry on Thursday.
The school education minister Ashish Shelar's order for closure of schools and colleges issued late Wednesday night also remained ineffective, as several educational institutions in the city and suburbs remained open.
The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) on Wednesday issued a red rain alert, indicating "extremely heavy rainfall", for Mumbai and Raigad districts.
The irregular heating and cooling of the Arabian Sea and the Bay of Bengal pushed cloud precipitation in Mumbai to a new high, with the city recording its wettest monsoon season this year since 1954.
When contacted, an IMD official said, "This year there has been continuous depression over Madhya Pradesh at regular intervals, which increased the overall rainfall in Mumbai and neighbouring districts."
"The state capital has received total 3,467 mm rain from June 1 till September 17, surpassing the 3,451 mm downpour recorded in 1954. With 11 days more to go this month, the city will get a record rainfall figure by then," he said.
The cyclonic circulation and related low-pressure over south Madhya Pradesh has been driving the humid westerly winds from the Arabian sea.
As the circulation gradually moves westward in next few days, the coastal areas of the state, including Mumbai, are likely to witness very heavy rains, the official said.
According to a weather expert, the country is going through a strong 'Indian Ocean Dipole' (an irregular oscillation of sea-surface temperatures) and it is driving the intensity of showers across various places, including Mumbai.
The south west monsoon arrived in Mumbai this year on June 18, as against the normal onset date of June 7.
Repeated low-pressure formation over north Bay of Bengal and Odisha resulted in at least 25 per cent excess rainfall in central India, with the Konkan and Goa regions receiving close to 60 per cent excess downpour so far, the expert said.
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RR beat RCB by six wickets in IPL
Guwahati (PTI): Blistering fifties by Vaibhav Sooryavanshi and Dhruv Jurel powered Rajasthan Royals to a six-wicket win over Royal Challengers Bengaluru in their IPL match here on Friday.
Sent in to bat, RCB rode on a fighting half-century by skipper Rajat Patidar (63) to post 201 for 8.
Virat Kohli (32), Romario Shepherd (22) and Venkatesh Iyer (29) also chipped in with useful contributions.
In reply, Sooryavanshi (78 off 26 balls) and Dhruv Jurel (81 not out off 43 balls) shared a 37-ball 108-run partnership for the second wicket to set the platform. Krunal Pandya (2/30) tried to bring them back with back-to-back wickets.
But Jurel, in the company of Ravindra Jadeja (24), completed the task with another 68-run stand, with two overs to spare.
For RR, Jofra Archer (2/33), Ravi Bishnoi (2/32) and Brijesh Sharma (2/37) took two wickets.
Brief scores:
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: 201 for 8 in 20 overs (Rajat Patidar 63; Jofra Archer 2/33, Ravi Bishnoi 2/32, Brijesh Sharma 2/37).
Rajasthan Royals: 202 for 4 in 18 overs (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 78, Dhruv Jurel 80 not out; Krunal Pandya 2/30, Josh Hazlewood 2/44).
