Schools-colleges closed, but rain forecast turns a damp squib

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."