IMD sounds heavy rain alert in central Maharashtra, Konkan-Goa

PUNE: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has sounded an alert for extremely heavy to heavy rainfall in some parts of the country, including Konkan-Goa and Madhya Maharashtra.
The IMD’s warning bulletin shows Konkan and Goa in “red” for July 18 and Madhya Maharashtra in “orange” for July 18 and 19, indicating extremely heavy rain at isolated places in Konkan-Goa and heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places in Madhya Maharashtra.
The Konkan and Goa region includes Alibaug, Bhira, Dahanu, Goa (Panjim), Harnai, Mumbai and Ratnagiri. The Madhya Maharashtra region includes Pune, Ahmednagar, Jalgaon, Jeur, Kolhapur, Mahabaleshwar, Malegaon, Nasik, Sangli, Satara and Solapur.
For July 18, IMD forecast heavy to very heavy rain at a few places with extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places over north Konkan and heavy to very heavy rain at isolated places over south Konkan and Goa, indicating the region in “red”.
“The red signifies that people in the region should be ‘most vigilant’. Wherever alerts or warnings are given during forecasts of heavy rain, chances of damage to life or property, flooding and trees falling among other such incidents are high,” said an official from the IMD’s National Weather Forecasting Centre in New Delhi.
The bulletin issued on July 18 evening had warnings in red for some places, indicating those regions may receive over 21cm rainfall in a short span of 24 hours. Warnings in “orange” indicate that a region may receive over 12cm rainfall in 24 hours and people should “keep vigil”, and be prepared or updated. Warnings in “yellow” indicate people to “be aware”, while green indicates no warning.
An IMD official told TOI one or two places in Konkan and Goa were likely to receive extremely heavy rainfall on July 18 — the warning being valid for 24 hours till 8.30am on July 19. “More than 25% places in Konkan-Goa are likely to receive heavy rain, with chances of ‘extremely heavy falls’ at one or two places. On July 19 too, the region is in the ‘orange’ with chances of heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places. Similarly, heavy to heavy rainfall is very likely in Madhya Maharashtra on July 18 and 19,” he said.
Though the warnings indicated the severity of the upcoming rain through colours, a source in IMD said people should keep vigil if they wish to travel along hilly regions such as Mahabaleshwar as well as other locations such as Jalgaon and Nashik, where it has been raining heavily.