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Mint
18-05-2025
- Climate
- Mint
Mumbai rains: Yellow Alert! IMD issues thunderstorm, rainfall warnings till June 21; details
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday issued a yellow alert warning for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and several other parts of Maharashtra, indicating the possibility of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, moderate rainfall, and gusty winds. The alert is in place until at least Wednesday. According to the latest IMD bulletin, Mumbai will remain under a yellow alert on Sunday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, while neighbouring districts such as Thane and Raigad will stay under warning from Sunday through Wednesday. Mumbai, India. May 06, 2025: A dark cloud loomed over Mumbai city on Tuesday. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the city, indicating moderate rainfall, for both Tuesday and Wednesday. This alert also extends to the neighbouring districts of Thane, Raigad, and Palghar. Mumbai, India. May 06, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) The alert extends beyond the Konkan region, with much of the rest of Maharashtra also placed under a yellow warning for the next four days, signaling the likelihood of unsettled weather across the state. Speaking to ANI on Friday, IMD scientist Akhil Srivastava pointed out that southern India, especially the states of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, and Karnataka, will experience persistent rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms and gusty winds for the next five days. Similar weather conditions are expected to prevail over Central India. Earlier on Saturday, rain lashed several parts of Mumbai as the city has been experiencing pre-monsoon showers over the past few days. In 2025, IMD said the southwest monsoon seasonal (June to September) rainfall over the country as a whole during 2025 is most likely to be above normal (greater than 104 per cent of the Long Period Average). The advance of the southwest monsoon over the Indian mainland is marked by monsoon onset over Kerala. It is an important indicator characterising the transition from the hot and dry to the rainy season. The yellow alert indicates the likelihood of unsettled weather across the state. Persistent rainfall and thunderstorms are expected over the next five days. The southwest monsoon typically sets in over Kerala on June 1, with a standard deviation of about 7 days. (With inputs from agencies) Key Takeaways Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra are on yellow alert until June 21. The IMD predicts above-normal monsoon rainfall for 2025. Southern India will also experience significant rainfall and thunderstorms.
Hindustan Times
08-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
Ghatkopar bridge end-2025 deadline postponed to June 2027
MUMBAI: In the hope of easing the traffic logjam in the eastern suburbs, yet another British-era bridge—the busy Ghatkopar rail over bridge (ROB)—is set to bite the dust and get replaced by a new, wider overpass. But with its initial deadline of end-2025 being forwarded to a distant June 2027, commuters are riding their hopes on the east-west crossing bridge being built at the adjacent stations of Vidyavihar and Vikhroli. Mumbai, India. May 07, 2025: General view of the under-construction Ghatkopar bridge. The bridge connects Western Express Highway and Lal Bahadur Shastri Marg (LBS Road) in Mumbai, India. May 07, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times) The 78-year-old Ghatkopar ROB came under the BMC's scrutiny after the Gokhale Bridge mishap, prompting structural audits of bridges all over Mumbai by IIT-Bombay in 2018. On finding it overloaded and in need of major repairs, the work on its reconstruction was given to the Maharashtra Rail Infrastructure Development Corporation (MRIDC) funded by the BMC. 'The bridge starts from the Golibar Road junction near LBS Marg on the Andheri-Ghatkopar Link Road till the Eastern Express Highway (EEH), connecting Ghatkopar East to Ghatkopar West,' said an official from MRIDC. 'The portion over the railway tracks will be a cable-stayed bridge while the portion over LBS Road will be a bowstring steel span. This is so that long spans of the bridge can be constructed without pillars adding to the traffic congestion on the road below. The bridge will also crisscross with two metro lines and the bullet train.' With work orders given in 2022, the work is inching ahead at a snail's pace. The old bridge, with its 2+2 lanes, has been allowed to continue to function after maintenance although heavy vehicles have been restricted on it. This, however, has been causing issues. 'BEST buses have to take a long turn right from Amar Mahal, as they can't ply on the old bridge, and heavy vehicles that are headed to Sakinaka also face this issue,' said Ajay Bagal, a resident who has long been campaigning for a new Ghatkopar ROB. The old bridge will be demolished as the right-hand lanes of the new bridge near completion in around a year, allowing for some traffic movement to continue. 'Traffic will be diverted onto the right-hand lanes, and then we will take up work on the left side,' said the MRIDC official. While work on the railway portion is on, it is the approach roads where the issue lies, as there are encroachments crowding the alignments. MRIDC acknowledged this, saying it was the BMC's responsibility to remove the encroachments. 'There are shops and a recently constructed SRA building in the way of the west-side approach road, which is delaying the work,' said Bagal. 'By now, the work on the bridge should have been almost complete, but it isn't. The other bridges coming up at Vikhroli and Vidyavihar will surely reduce the load on this one, but this bridge offers a straight road up to Sakinaka and the international airport, and is in one of the most congested areas, so it is of utmost importance.'
Hindustan Times
08-05-2025
- Automotive
- Hindustan Times
BEST's own fleet hits a new low: 639
MUMBAI: The Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) undertaking owns just 639 buses, less than a quarter of its total fleet of 2,758. The remaining 2,119 buses are on wet lease with the undertaking, a contractual agreement with private operators. Sources in the BEST said in mid-March, the undertaking's own fleet had 817 buses. (Representative picture) (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times) These figures emerged at a meeting of the undertaking to take stock of its fleet. Officials said the number of buses owned by the BEST will decline further as another 170 vehicles are expected to be scrapped this month. The shortage of buses has increased the wait time for commuters by 30-35 minutes. 'We are scrapping buses from our own fleet but have asked manufacturers to expedite production and hasten delivery. We are also planning to acquire small modern buses that will connect railway and metro stations, to boost last-mile connectivity. On Wednesday, we integrated our bus routes on Google Maps to help commuters track buses and plan their journey,' said a BEST official. Until May, the BEST received 540 buses on wet least from Olectra Greentech, which is supplying the undertaking electric, air-conditioned buses. The BEST has placed another order for 2,400 e-buses, whose production is yet to begin. The BEST is also struggling to procure more than 50 double-decker e-buses from Switch Mobility. As of now, BEST's electric fleet, including those from wet-lease operators, includes 900 buses, around a third of its total fleet, while it aims to convert the entire fleet to e-buses by 2027. Sources in the BEST said in mid-March, the undertaking's own fleet had 817 buses, while the total was 2,821 buses. In just 50 days until May 2, the BEST scrapped 178 buses. At a recent public meeting called by 'Aamchi Mumbai, Aamchi BEST', citizens said they were upset at the poor frequency of BEST buses. 'The wait time has gone up due to the shortage of buses. As a result, bus stops are crowded, especially during non-peak hours, when the number of bus trips drops,' said AV Shenoy, a transport expert. The BEST claims it is aiming to take its total fleet to 7,000 buses by 2029. Passenger associations feel the recent 100% fare for both AC and non-AC buses is ill-timed as commuters should not have to shell out more when the wait time of buses has increased.
Hindustan Times
07-05-2025
- General
- Hindustan Times
From sirens to silence: How Mumbai lost its daily wail
For decades, at exactly 9.00am, a mechanical wail would ripple through Mumbai's neighbourhoods. It wasn't an emergency. It was routine. Mumbai, India – 06, May 2025: RPF team, with sniffer dogs conducting the mock drill rehearsal underway at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus (CSMT) by the Central Railway, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, May 06, 2025. (Photo by Bhushan Koyande/HT Photo) The city's air raid sirens – mounted on rooftops of police stations, government offices, railway buildings and municipal infrastructure – were a holdover from a more anxious time. After the 1971 war, these daily tests became a civic ritual. Office-goers, schoolchildren, shopkeepers all knew the drill. The siren marked the start of the working day. People set their watches to it. And then, one day, it stopped. No warning. No replacement. The sound simply vanished from the city's busy life, and little did anyone notice in the new era of digital watches and cell phones. Today, as the country gears up for a nationwide emergency preparedness drill amid a notification from Ministry of Home Affairs, many Mumbaikars are being reminded of something they had long forgotten: those sirens weren't just background noise. They were part of a larger civil defence system. Mumbai had over 270 such sirens, installed during the early '60s and '70s, covering key government, defence and civilian clusters across the city. The system was powered by MTNL copper cables, linked to a central control room. A single command could activate sirens city-wide -– a legacy trigger for the entire network. The 9am test wasn't just ceremonial. It helped check the integrity of the system itself: a daily confirmation that the grid was functional, ready for deployment. It wasn't war that silenced Mumbai's sirens though – it was floodwater. The devastating deluge of July 2005 crippled the underground cable networks that linked these sirens. While MTNL did later upgrade to optic fibre, the sirens relied on legacy signals and became incompatible with the larger advancement. Since then, the sirens have been little more than rooftop relics. According to Directorate of Civil Defence, a part of Government of Maharashtra, only 126 sirens were technically in working condition as of March 2023. But they could not be remotely triggered. In case of an actual emergency, each one would have to be triggered manually with no city-wide coordination. In August 2023, the DCD (GoM) executed a study with MTNL (Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited) to explore revival of the siren network. The idea was to replace analogue triggers with digital infrastructure, similar to Mumbai's City Surveillance project that relies on optic fibre, provides more bandwidth, and can be programmed to have varying wails to indicate the type of emergency. The study included an audit of existing sirens, range limitations, network infrastructure implementation, and cost of reactivation. The plan was solid. But like many legacy upgrades, it got stuck in bureaucratic limbo, even lost relevance after two decades of silence. No further updates or information have been made public since. But with 4G connectivity, smartphone alerts, and the National Disaster Management Authority's Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) – can't emergencies be handled remotely through smartphones? Yes – but only to a point. Sirens still offer something remote systems can't: instant, mass notification that doesn't depend on phones, apps, battery life, language, or even mobile signal. In case of a power outage or a network blackout, a siren still works as an isolated medium. That's why countries like Japan, South Korea, the U.S., and Israel continue to maintain and modernize their public siren networks. They are deployed across varying disasters – earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, military threats, and even curfews. For Mumbai, a heavy cloud burst is a natural, recurring use case. Hence, sirens aren't outdated. They're redundancy by design. Today's mock drill isn't just a box-ticking exercise. It's a timely nudge from the Centre to states: dust off the old systems, test what still works, fix what doesn't. Whether it's control rooms, SOPs, or rooftop sirens – preparedness is no longer optional. For Mumbai, that means reassessing systems like its siren network – not as nostalgia, but as essential or critical infrastructure. The city already knows how vulnerable it is to floods, hurricanes, and large-scale disruptions. Relying entirely on smartphone alerts without a functional physical backup is a risk we can't afford. As tensions rise globally, India isn't predicting war – but it is preparing anyway. And that means revisiting old civil defence systems, updating what can be salvaged, and acknowledging that worst-case planning isn't paranoia. It's civic duty.
Hindustan Times
07-05-2025
- Climate
- Hindustan Times
Rains, thunderstorms bring relief to scorching city, more expected today
MUMBAI: On Tuesday evening, the city saw gusty winds, hazy views and heavy rain as forecasted by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which put Mumbai on yellow alert indicating light and moderate rain. Mumbai, India. May 06, 2025: An unexpected rain shower in the Sion area of Mumbai on Tuesday night. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a yellow alert for the city, indicating moderate rainfall, for Tuesday and Wednesday. This alert also extends to the neighbouring districts of Thane, Raigad, and Palghar. Mumbai, India. May 06, 2025. (Photo by Raju Shinde/HT Photo) (Hindustan Times) While the city's weather observatory in Santacruz recorded a maximum temperature of 34 degree Celsius and a minimum of 28.9 degrees, the minimum temperature was 2.5 degrees above normal with gusty winds blowing at 50 to 60 kmph in the evening. The coastal weather station recorded a maximum temperature of 34.1 degrees Celsius and minimum temperature of 27 degrees. The city was besieged by thunder and dust storms followed by rains that collectively affected visibility, in turn impacting traffic and pedestrians. The impact of the dust storm was such that objects were sucked up in the air—in one such instance, a piece of cloth landed on the overhead equipment of Western Railway in Dahisar's north-bound line, which temporarily affected train movement. A social media user @Tuberosedreams posted, '#Mumbai getting hit by crazy winds right now. Construction equipment flying around. Spotted a few bikers stopping and taking cover in shops. Scary scenes! Thanks for the warning, Weather Bureau.' The BMC alerted people to take precautions before stepping out of the house. While the coastal region saw light drizzles, areas like Borivali, Kandivali, Andheri, Lower Parel, Bhayandar and Powai experienced showers. Sports aficionados expressed worry about the weather affecting the Indian Premier League match taking place at Wankhede stadium in Marine Lines. 'After having a not so good power play, #GT made a comeback and score above the required DLS score, in case if it rains heavily than it might impact Mumbai adversely,' (sic) posted @SaiprasadThotla. The IMD had sounded a yellow alert for the city and its neighbouring districts of Raigad, Thane and Palghar. 'These are pre-monsoon showers, which are a common occurrence due to a western disturbance at the low level which brought moisture along. There is also a confluence of the ensuing westerly and easterly winds that lead to thunderstorms,' said Sushma Nair, scientist at IMD Mumbai. The showers will also decrease the high temperatures, bringing relief from the scorching heat on Wednesday. The daytime temperature will gradually dip by 1°C to 2°C, ranging between 33°C and 32°C as per the IMD's weekly forecast. A maximum temperature of 33 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 26 degrees Celsius has been forecast for Wednesday. The nighttime temperature had increased since yesterday from 26.6 degrees to 28.9 degrees, 'owing to the westerly winds which brought in moisture', said Nair. 'We will keep tabs on the weather and update the alerts accordingly,' she said. 'So far, the alerts only hold for Wednesday, and the rains are expected to subside after that.'
