Maha Rains: 3 feared drowned in Raigad; IMD issues red alert for Mumbai, Konkan region

Mumbai, July 19 (PTI): Three people were feared drowned following heavy rains in Maharashtra’s Raigad district on Monday, officials said, while the IMD sounded a ‘red alert’ for Mumbai and other districts in the Konkan region, predicting extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over the next 24 hours.

Mumbai and its neighbouring districts of Thane, Palghar and Raigad have been witnessing heavy rains since the last couple of days.

The torrential rains over the weekend claimed 30 lives in the metropolis.

On Monday, the Raigad disaster management department said three people were feared drowned at separate places in the district.

It said one Suresh Koli (42) went for fishing in the Arabian Sea on a small boat which capsized in the waters. Efforts were on to trace Koli.

Besides, one Pradeep Joshi (28) was missing after he ventured into the Poshir river in Karjat taluka, while another person, Deepaksing Thakur (24), was missing after he went for a swim in the Poyanje dam in Panvel taluka, the district administration said.

Meanwhile, the IMD in an updated forecast on Monday afternoon issued a ‘red alert’ for Mumbai, Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts in the Konkan region and also for Pune, Satara and Kolhapur over the next 24 hours.

It also sounded an ‘orange alert’ for the above mentioned districts from July 20 to July 23.

The IMD also issued an ‘orange alert’ for Nashik on Monday, and said the rest of the state is expected to receive heavy rains at isolated places and also light to moderate showers on next five days.

According to the IMD, the red alert indicates extremely heavy rainfall is likely at isolated places in ghat areas”.

It said extremely heavy rainfall means a precipitation of more than 204.4 mm in 24 hours.

An ‘orange alert’ indicates “heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places”, with precipitation between 64.5mm and 204.4 mm, the MeT office said.

The IMD had earlier issued an ‘orange alert’ for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar on Monday and ‘red alert’ for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.