Mumbai: BMC Uses IIT-B Forecasts Alongside IMD to Tackle Heavy Rainfall
Mumbai, 22nd August 2025: Amid the recent heavy downpours, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) has been relying on multiple sources for weather forecasts, supplementing the India Meteorological Department (IMD) updates with hyperlocal predictions.
Officials confirmed that alongside IMD bulletins, the BMC has been using the rainfall and flood monitoring system developed by the Centre for Climate Studies (CCS) at IIT Bombay. The system, managed by students, faculty, and staff, shares near real-time rainfall and waterlogging information via the portal mumbaiflood.in and the Mumbai Flood App.
“Even when the IMD had issued a red alert on August 19, the mumbaiflood.in team provided hyperlocal forecasts that were extremely useful for our storm water drain teams,” said BMC Additional Municipal Commissioner Abhijit Bangar.
The initiative, known as HDFC-ERGO IIT Bombay (HE-IITB) Innovation Lab, is funded by HDFC ERGO in collaboration with the BMC’s Centre for Municipal Capacity Building and Research (MCMCR) and the Regional Met Centre (RMC) Mumbai under the IMD.
Subimal Ghosh, head of the CCS at IIT Bombay, explained that their forecasts are shared with the BMC’s SWD department three days in advance. “Our portal provides a daily rainfall forecast on the first page and a 90-minute reflectivity forecast on the second, which indirectly measures cloud formation and rainfall intensity,” he said.
Ghosh added that the model has also been installed at IMD’s Mumbai office. “We also provide real-time updates for railway stations to indicate which ones are under stress,” he noted, referring to the transport-stress section on mumbaiflood.in. He credited PhD student Puja Tripathy for developing the algorithm for daily forecasts.
To further enhance the city’s weather monitoring capabilities, the BMC has recently approved a partnership with private weather agency Skymet Weather. Civic sources confirmed that the pending proposal was cleared last week, and an MoU will soon formalize Skymet’s forecasts as part of the city’s official disaster management system.
