Mumbai has been experiencing incessant heavy rainfall since Saturday morning, with the regional Meteorological Centre, Colaba predicting the situation to remain the same for next 24 hours.

In fact, with over 300 mm rain being reported in some parts of the city, this is the worst rainfall in the region since 2005 when maximum city went down under after an unprecedented deluge.

The rain has slowed down the city’s vehicular traffic since Tuesday and hundreds are stranded without a way to reach back home int he suburbs. Most of the railway tracks are also waterlogged and local trains, the lifeline of the city, are also affected.

Colaba weather station, which covers south Mumbai, recorded 37.6mm of rain and Santacruz weather station – representative of the suburbs - recorded 126mm rain from 8.30am to 2.30pm, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

It said the Colaba station recorded 152mm of rain between Monday and Tuesday mornings, the highest 24-hour rainfall this year.

Various areas in north Konkan also recorded heavy to very heavy rain in the last 24 hours with Alibaug recording 161mm and adjoining regions of Dahanu and Harnai also recording three digit figures. Navi Mumbai too received 119.85mm rain in the past 24 hours.

“A low-pressure area that had developed over Odisha has moved westwards towards the central parts of the country. There is an upper air cyclonic circulation over the eastern part of the state and a trough that extends over the west coast. All these factors have led to very heavy rain over the Konkan coast, especially Mumbai,” said KS Hosalikar, deputy director general, western region, India Meteorological Department (IMD).

A combination of high tide and heavy rains can push water into the low lying areas of the city, which often clogs the storm water drains leading to more inundation. A high tide up to 3.29metres is expected to hit today at 4.30pm.