Mumbai [Maharashtra]: Mumbai and several parts of Maharashtra are experiencing rising temperatures following the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue yellow alerts for heatwave conditions across multiple districts.
According to the IMD, hot and humid conditions in Mumbai intensified on Friday, October 9, with isolated heatwave conditions expected in parts of the region. Dry weather is likely to prevail during the remainder of the forecast period.
Neighbouring Raigad district is also expected to experience similar conditions, with an initial spell of hot weather followed by isolated heatwave conditions before temperatures begin to moderate.
The IMD issued a yellow alert, indicating that residents should remain aware of potentially adverse weather conditions, for several districts along Maharashtra’s western belt.
The districts covered under the alert include Palghar, Thane, Mumbai, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Satara, Sangli and Solapur, along with the ghat regions of Kolhapur and Satara.
For Saturday, October 10, the alert is expected to remain in place for select coastal, southern and ghat districts, including Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and the ghat areas of Kolhapur and Satara.
Weather conditions are expected to improve from Sunday, October 11, with the IMD forecasting green alerts, indicating no significant adverse weather warnings, across Maharashtra on October 11 and 12.
The rising temperatures have also raised concerns among economists over potential weather-related disruptions to agricultural production and their impact on food inflation.
CRISIL Chief Economist Dharmakirti Joshi said risks to food inflation remained tilted towards the upside, particularly amid uncertainty surrounding evolving weather patterns.
“The inflation risk from the food side is tilted to the upside,” Joshi said.
He warned that a strengthening El Niño could lead to further weather-related disruptions, potentially affecting crop production and inflation.
“In that scenario, you’ll have to wait and see because El Niño intensifying means there is a possibility of further disruptions from the weather side, which could have implications for crops and inflation also,” he said.
Joshi added that future policy decisions would depend on incoming economic indicators and meteorological developments.
“You can’t be sure about that. You’ll have to observe how it happens. I think the policy will also take into account what the incoming data is indicating on this front,” he said.
The IMD had issued a yellow alert on Thursday for heatwave conditions in parts of Mumbai and Raigad on Friday as temperatures continued to rise above seasonal averages.
The warning follows the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from Mumbai on October 3, marking a transition towards hotter and drier weather conditions.
According to the weather department, Mumbai’s Santacruz observatory recorded a maximum temperature of 37.6 degrees Celsius, approximately 4.5 degrees above normal.
Weather experts expect elevated temperatures to persist until October 14 or potentially the middle of next week, although the IMD’s district-level alerts indicate an improvement in conditions from Sunday.
[DD News]