Mumbai declares afternoon holiday for schools, colleges amid red alert

2 min readMumbaiUpdated: Jul 4, 2026 01:26 PM IST

Due to heavy rain in Mumbai, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation has asked people to step out of their homes only if necessary.(Express Photo by Akash Patil)

With heavy rain battering Mumbai city amidst a red alert sounded by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has declared a holiday for schools and colleges in the afternoon shift on Saturday.

“In view of the safety of students, all schools and colleges in Mumbai have been declared a holiday for the afternoon session on July 4, 2026. The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has asked people to step out of their homes only if necessary,” read a civic bulletin issued at noon on Saturday.

On Friday night, Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) declared a holiday on Saturday across all primary, middle and high schools as well as anganwadis in Thane owing to the weather bureau’s red alert for the region.

Starting Saturday, the IMD has placed Mumbai and its neighbouring districts of Thane and Palghar under a red alert owing to the likelihood of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the Mumbai Metropolitan region. The red warning is slated to remain in place throughout the weekend, until Monday 8.30 am, following which the intensity of showers is forecast to recede gradually.

A red warning is sounded amid the possibility of extremely heavy rainfall above 204.4 mm within a day.

Mumbai has been experiencing unabated showers over the past week, with meteorologists attributing the continuous spells to an array of active weather systems. On July 3, rain activity further gathered pace after a Low Pressure Area system over northwest Bay of Bengal set in and is likely to become more well-marked in the next couple of days.

Data furnished by IMD shows that between Friday and Saturday morning, the Santacruz observatory received 110 mm of rain, while Colaba recorded 90 mm of rainfall. During the same period, the heaviest showers in Mumbai were recorded in the western suburbs’ Bandra area, wherein 151 mm of rain was received, followed by 143 mm rain in Pali Hill and Ghatkopar, 141 mm rain in G/South ward office, 135 mm of rain in Sion, 124 mm of rain in Mankhurd, and 127 mm rain in Chembur.