Heavy rain hits life in Navi Mumbai

Several industrial units in Mahape, Navi Mumbai, were damaged after heavy rains hit the satellite city on Wednesday evening. While the sudden showers brought relief to people from the scorching heat, it severely affected traffic movement. In just one hour, the city received around 60mm rainfall.

There was also a hailstorm-like situation in Mahape, leading to the closure of several offices before time. "I work in Mahape, and because of heavy rain, we were given early leave from office," said Shivani Gala. She added that she was stranded for hours in traffic in several places.

Most parts of the city witnessed heavy traffic jams as roads were water-logged. "The situation went out of control after rains continued for around an hour," said an on-duty traffic policeman.

Belapur resident Hemant Patil said, "I was on my way home from Mahape. I was stuck near Turbhe Naka for more than an hour."

"I was about to leave office when the rain started, forcing me to stay put for an hour," said Avinash Chaudhary, who works in Vashi.

The Indian Meteorology Department (IMD) in Mumbai noticed sharp reflectivity on the Doppler radar on Wednesday evening, which indicated a possible hail activity around 6.30pm. "The reflectivity of the curved echo was between 50 and 60 decibels, and ranged from brown to red in colour, indicating an incidence of a severe thunderstorm and possible hail," said KS Hosaliker, deputy director general, IMD.

Reflectivity is the amount of transmitted power returned to the radar receiver after hitting precipitation, in this case heavy rain or hail, and is measured in decibels.