Mumbai: Sudden unexpected rains accompanied by thunder and lightning lashed Mumbai in the wee hours of Saturday taking everyone by surprise though the city had experienced unseasonal rainfall last month.
Weather forecasters have attributed the heavy showers to a trough in the easterlies from the Lakshwadeep area to north Gujarat. While this month is always dry in Mumbai, neighbouring Pune received an all-time high December rainfall with 53.1 mm of rain recorded in a span of 24 hours.
The unseasonal rains have affected farmers in Maharashtra where heavy rains accompanied by hailstorm in the last two days have destroyed crops, including grapes in the Nashik region. Over 100 farmers from Rui village in Niphad block of Nashik climbed up high tension electricity transmission towers to demand that the government also provide them with suitable compensation for the losses that they have incurred.
Farmers in Nashik are asking why the state government had announced relief to villagers only in Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and why not for farmers from the rest of Maharashtra.
Even the Konkan region, famous for its Alphonso and Devgad mangoes, have been affected by the rains. Farmers say their losses will run into millions of rupees as the pesticides sprayed on trees have been washed away whilst mango flowers have been blown away by strong winds and rains.
