New Delhi: Excess rainfall in Mumbai claims over 2,300 lives every monsoon season through a cascade of direct and indirect effects, scientists reported on Wednesday, noting that excess mortality periods continue for at least five weeks after each episode of intense rain.

Heavy downpour and flooding in the coastal mega city could be responsible for approximately 8 per cent of the city’s total deaths in the four monsoon months, they said, flagging that the most affected are children under five years and slum dwellers.

Their study – published in Nature – is possibly the first one on the health impacts of rainfall and flooding in big Indian cities.

They found that rainfall contributed to around 8 per cent of deaths during monsoon, which is equated to 2,308-2,718 excess lives lost per year.

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