Heavy rain alert issued for some districts of Konkan, western Maharashtra

The weather department on Sunday issued an alert for parts of Konkan and western Maharashtra for the next few days, warning of 'extremely heavy to very heavy' rainfall.

 

While the monsoon has arrived in southern Maharashtra, Mumbai and Konkan are receiving pre-monsoon showers. In its forecast released in the afternoon, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued an orange alert (which denotes 'be prepared for relief action') for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts of Konkan along with Satara and Pune districts and their ghat (hilly) areas including Kolhapur district.

 

The orange alert for Raigad is valid for only May 25 and 26, but for Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts and Ghat areas of Satara, Kolhapur and Pune, the alert will be valid for five days.

 

 

"Heavy to very heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds up to 50-60 kmph at isolated places" were very likely, the IMD said. 

 

The southwest monsoon is also expected to reach Madhya Pradesh early in the first week of June, an official from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said.

 

The southwest monsoon reached Kerala on Saturday, marking its earliest onset over the Indian mainland since 2009.

 

"We are expecting the early arrival of the rain-bearing system in Madhya Pradesh, probably in the first week of June. The way it is advancing and subject to conditions, it is likely to foray early," IMD Bhopal Centre's forecast in-charge Divya Surendran told PTI.

 

She said the southwest monsoon has touched a small part of Maharashtra and is expected to reach Mumbai and Bengaluru in the next three days.

 

"At this pace, we are expecting it to arrive over MP early," Surendran said.

 

Last year, the monsoon set over in Madhya Pradesh on June 21, and in 2023, it arrived on June 24 and covered the entire state by the next day.