A popular hill station near Mumbai recorded more than 600mm of rain in a single day this week – more than London receives in an entire year – as incessant monsoon rains paralysed India's financial capital.
At least 13 people were killed across the region in four days as the rains collapsed buildings in the city's eastern suburbs.
A three-storey chawl, a row tenement common in Mumbai's older neighbourhoods, collapsed in the Mankhurd area, killing five young children and one woman, local authorities said.
Search and rescue operations continued through the night as officials and residents feared more people were trapped under the debris.
Some areas of Mumbai received more than 300mm of rain in a single day on Sunday, while Lonavala, a tourist spot close to Mumbai, recorded over 600mm on Monday – a record for the city and nearby areas including Palghar and Raigad, according to Maharashtra's disaster management minister Girish Mahajan.
Areas including Malabar Hill, Colaba, Vikhroli and Bhandup recorded over 200mm.
MUMBAI RAINS: A landslide has been reported near the exit of Tunnel 2 on the newly opened ‘Missing Link’ of the Mumbai–Pune Expressway after heavy rain, forcing traffic to be suspended. The images are alarming. Please stay safe, everyone. Prayers for all. 🙏
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) July 6, 2026
(And yes, an obvious… pic.twitter.com/h0VwTEoaja
The district of Raigad, southeast of Mumbai, was also severely hit, with more than 200 stranded residents and tourists rescued, and 937 people from 14 villages evacuated to safer locations.
The district recorded an average of 236.6mm of rainfall by Sunday morning, with Khalapur receiving the highest at 323.3mm.
Rainfall in catchment areas was even more extreme, with 463mm recorded in Mahabaleshwar, causing four rivers including the Savitri, Amba and Kundalika to cross danger levels. Three people have died and five others remain missing across the district following separate incidents at waterfalls, rivers and tourist locations in Panvel, Karjat and Mahad.
Lonavala records over 600mm rain in single day
Six hundred millimetres of rain in 24 hours triggered multiple landslides in the Karjat-Lonavala Ghat section on the Mumbai-Pune railway line, severely disrupting train services for two days.
Lonavala, a popular hill station about 80 kilometres from Mumbai, recorded 670mm in a single day – more than London's entire annual rainfall – as the Ghat section also received a further 300mm the previous day.
In Palghar district, one person was killed and 777 families evacuated, including 286 families from hamlets near the Zanzroli dam. The district recorded cumulative rainfall of between 350 and 400mm, with Vasai taluka recording the highest single-day figure at 203mm.
The India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for extremely heavy rain and gusts of up to 90km per hour across Mumbai and neighbouring districts on Monday.
Schools and colleges in Mumbai as well as the neighbouring cities of Pune, Thane, and Palghar were closed for the day. Private offices were advised to implement work-from-home arrangements and a half-day was declared for non-essential government offices. Flight operations at the Mumbai international airport were disrupted and the Maharashtra Legislative Council was adjourned.
Today’s widespread flooding following continuous rainfall in Vasai-Virar, Mumbai, India. pic.twitter.com/yilDwwMLle
— Weather Monitor (@WeatherMonitors) July 6, 2026
The death toll of 13 includes two people killed by falling trees. An 11-year-old boy was killed on 30 June when an uprooted tree fell onto a moving school bus and a 63-year-old man died on Sunday after a tree fell on him in the Navpada area of Kurla.
The rain also caused roads to flood, with pictures circulating of commuters wading through chest-deep water and auto-rickshaw drivers pushing their vehicles through submerged streets.
Twenty-five landslides and mudslides were recorded across Raigad, damaging areas near 73 houses and injuring three people. Eighty-four houses were damaged and floodwaters entered another 242.
Road connectivity was disrupted across national highways, state highways and village roads due to waterlogging and overflowing streams. Rescue operations were carried out with support from Aapda Mitra volunteers, NGOs, trekkers and local residents alongside government teams.
Why Mumbai floods every year
Mumbai, a megacity of roughly 20 million people, experiences severe flooding almost every monsoon season.
Much of the city was built on reclaimed land and its drainage infrastructure struggled to keep pace with decades of rapid urbanisation. The 2005 monsoon remains the worst on record, when over 900mm rain fell over a single day, killing more than 1,000 people across the state of Maharashtra.
The monsoon floods reach extended well beyond Maharashtra. Flash floods struck the Doda and Kishtwar districts of Jammu and Kashmir for the third time in two days on Tuesday, partially damaging houses, shops and vehicles, though no casualties were reported.
Schools and colleges across Mumbai remained closed on Tuesday under an orange alert, with authorities urging residents to venture outdoors only if necessary. Tourist entry was banned at all forts, waterfalls, dams and rivers in Thane district until further notice under the Disaster Management Act.
Climate crisis is intensifying India's monsoon rainfall, with research showing that extreme rainfall events are becoming more frequent and more intense across the subcontinent. India relies on the monsoon for around 70 per cent of its annual rainfall, which sustains agriculture for hundreds of millions, but the rains increasingly arrive in concentrated, destructive bursts rather than steady seasonal showers.
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