Cyclone Tauktae: IMD Sounds Heavy Rainfall Alert for Mumbai

As the "very severe cyclonic storm" Tauktae headed towards Gujarat, high-speed winds and heavy rains crushed Mumbai and its surrounding areas on Monday, uprooting trees and disrupting local train services, officials said. The Bandra-Worli sea-link was closed due to strong winds, and people were advised to take alternate routes, a senior official of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

For the next few hours, the IMD has upgraded the warning to Extremely heavy rainfall in Mumbai. Winds will continue to gust up to 120 kilometers per hour. Several parts of Mumbai and the surrounding areas are currently experiencing heavy rain and strong winds. According to BMC spokesperson Tanaji Kamble, the IMD has upgraded the warning to extremely heavy rainfall in Mumbai for the next few hours.

Because of the strong winds, the Bandra-Worli sea-link was closed to traffic, and people were advised to take alternate routes, according to another senior BMC official. Around 11 a.m., the Colaba area in south Mumbai recorded a wind speed of 102 km/h, the highest for the day so far, according to IMD Mumbai senior director Shubhangi Bhute.