Heavy rains expected, IMD issues 'red alert' for Mumbai for next 24 hours

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Mumbai: The India Meteorological Department (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.

Five members of a family were killed on Monday after a boulder rolled down and crashed on their home due to incessant rains in Thane city, while seven people were feared drowned at separate places in Maharashtra as Mumbai reeled under downpour for the second day, leading to water-logging and disruption in local train services, officials said.

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

State Urban Development Minister Eknath Shinde, who is also the Thane Guardian Minister, visited the site of the boulder crash and later announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to each of the deceased. 

Thane district also continued to face the fury of incessant rains through the day with four persons feared drowned in swollen water bodies, officials said. 

A release from the district administration said one Surya Rajput, a resident of Mansarovar in Navi Mumbai, was washed away in a river in Sahapur, while 19-year-old Jubed Ansari met a similar fate in Chavindra in Bhiwandi town. 

In another incident, a man was washed away in Ganesh Ghat in Dombivali, while a 9-year-old boy, identified as Abdul Rehman Hurera, was feared drowned in Mira Road, it said. 

The release said the railway bridge in Vasind was submerged and 25 villages were cut off, while the condition of a bridge in Khadipar in Bhiwandi and Runde in Murbad were similar. 

It also said water entered a godown in Mumbra where goats were kept for Bakri Eid celebrations, leading to the death of 15 animals while 14 were saved.

During the day in Mumbai, the Central Railway (CR) was forced to suspend its suburban train operations on the Main Line three times.

According to civic officials, bus services of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport (BEST) were running normal, except for a few places in suburbs. 

The eastern suburbs of Mumbai recorded 90.65 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period ended at 8 am on Monday, as compared to 48.88 mm rainfall in the island city and 51.89 mm rainfall in western suburbs, a BMC official said.

(With inputs from news agencies)