Mumbai schools, colleges to remain shut on July 6 amid heavy rains

The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has declared a holiday for all government, private and civic-run schools and colleges in Mumbai on Monday after the city was placed under an 'orange alert' for heavy rainfall.

The decision was taken to ensure the safety of students, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said in a statement on Sunday evening.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds across Mumbai and issued an 'orange alert' for the metropolis.

Mumbai rains: Will Govt and private office remain open?

Government and private offices will function as usual, the release said while urging citizens to step out of their homes only if necessary.

Mumbai and its surrounding areas have witnessed very heavy rains for the past few days, resulting in waterlogged streets and incidents of treefall, which have killed three persons, including a schoolboy, since June 30.

Mumbai rains: Flight disruption

Four IndiGo flights were cancelled and 13 arriving aircraft of various operators were diverted to nearby airports as heavy rains and gusty winds forced Mumbai international airport authorities to suspend all runway operations for an hour on Sunday, sources told PTI.

The 13 flights that were diverted due to bad weather, however, landed back in Mumbai later, they added.

Mumbai International Airport, which is jointly owned by Adani Group and Airports Authority of India (AAI), in a statement said, "At approximately 10.17 am, adverse weather conditions, including strong gusty winds of up to 42 knots and reduced visibility due to heavy rain, impacted runway operations." As per procedure, runway operations were "temporarily suspended" to ensure the safety of passengers, aircraft and ground personnel, the private airport operator said in the statement.

Following improvement in weather conditions, normal runway operations resumed after an hour, it added.

Civic officials said the incident occurred around 12.40 pm near Hindi BMC School in Naupada locality of Kurla West. Yunus Kundawala was extricated from the debris and rushed to Fauzia Hospital, where doctors declared him brought dead, they added.

On June 30, an 11-year-old boy was killed and several others were injured after a tree fell onto a moving school bus in Chembur.

Videos that surfaced on social media on Sunday showed a tree collapsing in front of industrialist Mukesh Ambani's security convoy in Bandra area of the metropolis, briefly obstructing traffic.

BMC's network of automatic rain gauges recorded more than 200 mm of rainfall at several locations across Mumbai during the 24 hours ending at 8 am on Sunday, with a couple of places receiving over 300 mm.

The highest rainfall of 310.6 mm was recorded at the Building Proposal Office in Vikhroli West, followed by Colaba Pumping Station (306.6 mm) and Tagore Nagar Municipal School in Vikhroli (301.8 mm).

Areas receiving more than 200 mm included Malabar Hill, Mandavi Fire Station, Colaba, Memonwada Fire Station, Vikhroli Fire Station, Paspoli Municipal School in Powai, Bhandup Complex, Andheri Fire Station, Chakala Municipal School, Jogeshwari and Aarey Colony in Goregaon, according to BMC data.

The BMC urged people to strictly follow advisories and contact the civic body's helpline 1916 for immediate assistance in case of any emergency.

The civic body had urged citizens. particularly in low-lying areas and along the coastline, to be alert due to a high tide of 4.19 metres at 3.22 pm on Sunday. Heavy rains and high tides generally trigger flooding in the metropolis.