Downpour lifts dampened spirits, but not water levels in reservoirs

  Mumbaikars woke up to heavy rains and cool temperatures on Sunday morning. But the relief in a season marked with parsimonious showers did not extend to the lakes supplying water to the city (see graphic). 

    The average rainfall recorded at 8.30am in Santa Cruz was 82.8mm and Colaba 27.4mm. At 8.30pm, the readings were 5.9mm and 1.4mm, respectively. An official from the meteorological department said the morning readings were to be considered in declaring the day as the season's wettest. 
    "A low pressure area formed in the Bay of Bengal, adjoining the Orissa and West Bengal coasts. This low pressure moved inland and westwards," said V K Rajeev, director of weather forecast. 
    He said that generally when one observes a low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal, westerly winds over the Konkan get strengthened and intensified. "That is the reason why the Konkan, including Mumbai, is getting rainfall. We expect this rainy weather to continue for two days, depending on when the low pressure gets dissipated. Over a period of two or three days, it may become weak." 
    Meanwhile, one person was killed and three were injured, including a 10-yearold boy, when heavy rains caused a building to collapse in Bhiwandi on Sunday afternoon. The building, Ganesh Bhuvan on Bhiwandi-Kalyan road, was constructed 28 years ago and had 25 flats and a few shops. The police said repairs in a bar on the ground floor led to a crack in a wall on Saturday, leading to residents vacating the building. 
    When the building collapsed, Udesar Paswan (38), was working inside a shop. He died in hospital. Among the injured, the adults received wounds deep enough to require admittance in hospital. 
    Inputs from Pradeep Gupta 
Civic body plans cloud seeding for September 
    The BMC is gearing up for an experiment on cloud seeding in the Bhatsa and Upper Vaitarna catchments. A proposal to start the experiment on September 1 will be tabled before the civic standing committee this week. "We will get our own aircraft and the India Meteorological Department will provide the radar," said hydraulic engineer Ramesh Bambale. "The process will involve sprinkling sodium chloride or silver iodide crystals on clouds to induce precipitation and subsequently rain." TNN

JOY AND SORROW: While the city welcomed Sunday's rains, they also caused a building to collapse in Bhiwandi, killing one