A woman covers herself and her children with a plastic sheet as it rains, in Solapur, Maharashtra. (Image: PTI File)
Mumbai, along with Thane and Palghar, is expected to receive heavy rainfall over the next four to five days, according to the IMD.
The Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Maharashtra’s Raigad on Saturday evening. The weatherman also issued an orange alert for Palghar, Thane and Ratnagiri and issued a yellow alert for Mumbai.
Orange alert forecasts heavy to very heavy rainfall. The IMD predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in Palghar, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad and Ratnagiri districts of Konkan from August 24 (Saturday) onwards.
It also said that Mumbai and its neighbouring Thane and Palghar districts and many other parts of Maharashtra are expected to receive heavy rainfall over the next four to five days.
“The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall in some areas of Mumbai city and its suburbs in the next 3-4 hours. Citizens are advised to be cautious,” the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said in an SMS alert to citizens on Saturday morning.
The IMD has also issued an orange alert for the Pune and Satara districts of western Maharashtra and Amravati, Bhandara, Chandrapur and Gondia districts of Vidarbha for Saturday.
The IMD has issued an orange alert for some districts of Konkan and western Maharashtra on August 25 and 26 as well.
A yellow alert, predicting thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and light-to-moderate rainfall with gusty winds of 30-40 kmph speed, has been issued for Saturday in several districts barring a few in western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
An orange alert indicates the likelihood of heavy rainfall exceeding 64.5 mm within 24 hours, which could disrupt daily life and cause flooding in low-lying areas.
The IMD said that a low-pressure area over northern West Bengal and adjacent northeast Jharkhand, along with another over the east-central Arabian Sea off the Maharashtra coast, is expected to bring rain to most parts of Maharashtra in the next 48 hours.
(with inputs from PTI)
