Thane And Kalyan-Dombivli Schools Closed Saturday As IMD Issues Red Alert
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued the season's first "red" alert warning for the weekend across the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, prompting local administrations to declare school and college holidays on Saturday in Thane, Navi Mumbai, and Kalyan-Dombivli. The weather agency has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places, with extremely heavy rainfall expected at isolated locations, as an active monsoon system keeps precipitation intensity high starting Saturday.
In response to the severe weather forecast, municipal and district authorities have taken immediate safety measures. A holiday has been declared for all schools in the Thane and Palghar districts, a directive that covers educational institutions in Navi Mumbai and Kalyan-Dombivli for Saturday. In addition to school closures, the Kalyan-Dombivli Municipal Corporation has declared a holiday for colleges within its jurisdiction on Saturday.
The impending red alert comes immediately after a heavy wet spell that continued through Friday. Many parts of the metropolitan region were lashed by significant downpours, with rainfall measurements exceeding 100mm in several areas on Friday.
Following the weekend's extreme weather warning, the IMD has adjusted its alerts for the early days of next week. For Monday, the weather agency has issued an "orange" alert, which indicates that heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur at isolated places. By Tuesday, the alert level will be downgraded to a "yellow" alert, indicating that the heavy rain spell is expected to gradually ease.
According to IMD officials, the current heavy rainfall spell is being driven by a combination of multiple active weather systems. These systems include an offshore trough extending along the Maharashtra-Karnataka coast, a shear zone located over central India, and a low-pressure area over the northwest Bay of Bengal that is expected to intensify over the next two days. Under the combined influence of these active systems, the IMD has forecast widespread rainfall across Maharashtra to continue until July 7.
