A NEW THREAT ON THE WATER FRONT?

SAVED BY THE RAIN GODS Mumbaikars who were keeping their fingers crossed fearing another deluge were left pleasantly surprised on Thursday. Despite the high tide levels reaching a towering 5.01 metres at 1.23 pm, the relatively lower rainfall saved the city from going under. The island city got 16.8mm of rain, the eastern suburbs 34.1mm, and the western suburbs 3.3mm of rainfall ANGRY AS THE SEA Many low-lying areas, however, were submerged by the sea, and more than a 100 families along the coast in Worli, Versova, Malabar Hill and Cuffe Parade were evacuated to nearby municipal schools. The wall of a home in a chawl in Worli Koliwada caved in. Part of the wall of the mayor's bungalow in Dadar, which abuts the Arabian Sea, also collapsed WATER'S THE GOOD NEWS After an alarming dry spell and a delayed start to the monsoon, the city's lakes are finally beginning to swell. For the first time on Thursday, the total water content from all six lakes crossed last year's mark: It was recorded at 4.70 lakh million litres compared to 4.46 lakh million litres on July 23 last year. Modak Sagar began overflowing from midnight on Thursday. P 2 FORECAST FOR TODAY The Met department has forecast a spell of heavy rain in the next 48 hours, but added that there won't be any "exceptionally heavy rainfall''. The city is bracing itself for high tides reaching the 5.05m mark on Friday. Top BMC officials have been put on a high alert TIDE WATCH FRIDAY | 5.05 metres at 2.03 pm SATURDAY | 4.94 metres at 2.43 pm SCHOOL HOLIDAY? A few schools like Bai Avabai Petit have announced a holiday today. Some will close early at noon while others may follow a wait-and-watch policy STOPPED AT THE GATEWAY: High-spirited youngsters brave the waves near the Taj on Thursday