IMD for extra caution in ghat areas of north Konkan, north Madhya Maharashtra till Wednesday

PUNE: Heavy rains may continue to batter the ghat areas in North Konkan as well as north Madhya Maharashtra till July 10. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has also not ruled out the possibility of landslides in the ghats of these regions until Thursday morning.
IMD reiterated its earlier warning on Tuesday, stating that it is best to avoid the ghat areas and tourist spots here till July 10.
Rainfall in the rest of Maharashtra, including parts of Madhya Maharashtra, such as Pune, Vidarbha, and Marathwada, is expected to start reducing from July 11.
The rainfall is expected to take a short break in most parts of the state, except Konkan between July 11 and July 15. However, until Tuesday morning heavy rainfall was recorded in some places. Both Tamhini ghat and Shirgaon recorded over 240mm rain in just 24 hours. Triple digit rainfall was recorded at many locations until Tuesday morning, including Mahabaleshwar, Jawhar, Matheran, Vikramgad, Mulshi, Igatpuri, Trimbakeshwar, among others.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather, IMD Pune, told TOI though the warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall may continue for Konkan, the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall in most areas isn’t there for now. “Heavy rainfall may continue for Konkan region for the next three to four days but, overall, rainfall is likely to reduce for most of Maharashtra after July 10. Only isolated to scattered rains are expected after July 10 in parts of Madhya Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha,” Kashyapi said.
District-wise, Palghar, Thane and Mumbai in Konkan may witness light to moderate rain from July 11, while Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg may record heavy rain at isolated places. Though the ghat areas of Pune, Kolhapur and Satara were kept on a heavy rain alert on July 9-10, this may change to light to moderate rain after July 10, Kashyapi added.
“All other districts in the state may only receive light to moderate rain till July 13-15. The condition of both monsoon branches — Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea — is currently moderate. The upper air cyclonic circulation over south Gujarat and north Konkan, which has been giving parts of the state heavy to very heavy rainfall, has become less marked. The westerlies from the Arabian Sea have also become marginally less strong. All these factors are contributing to the partial weakening of monsoon rainfall in northern Maharashtra,” Kashyapi explained.