Heavy showers continue, man drowns in Powai lake

MUMBAI: Rain continued to lash the city on Wednesday but with less intensity than the day before, as a 24-year-old man drowned in a lake in Powai, where he had gone on a picnic with an uncle and friends on Tuesday. Such showers with heavy spells are forecast for Thursday too. There were intermittent showers in the city and suburbs. The rain recorded in a 12-hour span by India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Colaba and Santacruz observatories was 17mm and 2.9mm respectively. Weathermen said the city will receive showers till the weekend. Ajay Kumar, scientist from IMD, said the rain was due to several active weather systems. “There is an offshore trough from North Maharashtra to Kerala coast and a cyclonic circulation over Gujarat. There’s another cyclonic circulation in the Bay of Bengal over South Orissa and the neighbourhood. All these systems are giving the region good rain,” he said. The rainfall recorded since June 1 this year at Santacruz crossed 1,000mm, while in Colaba it was 944mm.Suraj Sawant’s body was found 24 hours later. Mulund police have recorded an accidental death case.Suraj, who lived near Mahakali Caves in Andheri (E), was working at an engineering company for two years. Sawant left home with his uncle, Nilesh Chalke, around 3pm on Tuesday. Joined by friends, Vikas Parab and Yogendra Jadhav, they headed to Bangurda Gaon in Powai. When they entered Sai Bangurda Talav in the vicinity for a swim, Sawant got pulled in deeper. The others alerted the authorities around 6pm and the fire brigade too was informed. Sawant was found around 4.45pm on Wednesday. He was taken to Mulund General Hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.