Mumbai: Mumbai is likely to experience a fresh spell of rainfall and thunderstorms this weekend, bringing some relief from the rising heat but also raising health concerns amid increasing pollution and fluctuating temperatures. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), light to moderate showers and thundershowers are expected over the city on October 16 and 17, followed by intermittent rain through the weekend.

Neighbouring districts Thane and Palghar have been placed under a yellow alert, with the possibility of thunderstorms accompanied by gusty winds. The IMD said the current weather pattern is driven by an upper air cyclonic circulation over the Arabian Sea. Daytime temperatures are expected to hover around 35°C, while minimum temperatures may stay near 24°C.

This will be the first rain spell since the IMD declared the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon from Mumbai on October 10, the city’s earliest withdrawal in seven years. This year, Colaba observatory recorded 2,263 mm of rain, while Santacruz logged 3,112 mm over the season.

However, even as the return of showers may cool down the city, the combination of heat, humidity and pollution could trigger respiratory problems and viral infections. The resumption of construction work post-monsoon has worsened air quality, with the AQI in several pockets of the city remaining in the ‘moderate to poor’ category.

Mumbaikars, especially children, the elderly, and those with weak immunity or respiratory issues, will have to stay cautious over the coming week. Sudden weather changes often lead to common ailments like cold, cough, sore throat, sinus infections and viral fever, which tend to rise before Diwali each year.

– Stay hydrated: Drink warm water and herbal teas to strengthen immunity.

– Avoid street food: Contaminated food or water can cause stomach infections.

– Use masks: Helps protect from dust and airborne particles in polluted areas.

– Maintain hygiene: Frequent handwashing and sanitizing reduce infection risk.

– Eat vitamin-rich foods: Include citrus fruits, tulsi and turmeric to boost resistance.

– Get adequate sleep: A strong immune system depends on proper rest.

Mumbai: Actor Shilpa Shetty told the Bombay High Court on Thursday she was withdrawing her application seeking permission to travel abroad as the plans had not materialized. Shetty and her husband Raj Kundra are facing a Rs60 crore cheating case lodged by a businessman. 

Shetty’s advocate, Niranjan Mundargi, told a bench of Chief Justice Shree Chandrashekhar and Justice Gautam Ankhad that the actor wished to withdraw her application seeking permission to travel to Los Angeles as the plans have not materialised. “The travel plan is not materialising. She was the only Indian actor to be invited to the event, but it is not happening,” Mundargi said. 

He added that they would approach the court in later when they have to travel. “As and when she and her husband desire to travel in future, they will file a fresh application seeking permission from the court. She (Shetty) is not pressing the present application,” he added.

A complaint was lodged against the couple by one Deepak Kothari alleging that from 2015 to 2023 they had induced him to invest Rs 60 crore in their company – Best Deal TV Pvt Ltd but the amount was used for their own personal benefits.

The couple had last month filed a petition in HC seeking suspension of the Look Out Circular (LOC) issued against them at the behest of the city police’s Economic Offences Wing, which is probing the case.

Pending hearing in the petition, they filed an application seeking permission to travel abroad for their professional commitments and one leisure trip between October and January 2026. Subsequently, Kundra dropped plans to travel and Shetty had sought permission to travel to LA with her son, whereas Kundra, their daughter and her mother would stay back in India. 

On Thursday, the court accepted the actor’s withdrawal and posted the couple’s plea seeking suspension of the LOC for hearing on November 17. “Counsel for the applicant number 2 (Shetty) submitted that as and wh en applicants desire to travel, they shall file a fresh application with particulars of details of travel,” the court noted while allowing withdrawal of the  application. 

During the earlier hearings, the court had said that it cannot allow leisure trips when the duo is accused in a cheating and fraud case and had said it would consider their plea only if they are willing to deposit the Rs 60 crore.

Shetty had sought to travel to the United States as she had been invited to attend an event there in October last week. The bench had then asked her to submit the agreement or invitation received by her. Mundargi had then said that no agreement could be signed until the actor obtained travel permission from the court.

He had earlier submitted that both Shetty and Kundra had cooperated with the probe in the case and had also appeared for questioning. 

Nashik: Police have arrested three persons after seizing mephedrone (MD) drug valued at Rs 5.82 lakh from their possession in Malegaon town of Maharashtra’s Nashik district, officials said.

Acting on a tip-off about drug peddling, a special squad of the police conducted a raid in Malegaon’s Hirapur Maidan area on Tuesday and found three persons possessing 194 gm of the contraband with the motive to sell it, an official said.

They had obtained the drug from a man who is at large, the official said.

The police arrested the three accused, identified as Ansari Istiaq Mukhtar Ahmed (25), Jalal Ahmed Mohammed Haneef Shiekh (32) and Mosin Khan Jainulabdin Pathan (37), and booked them under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, the official said.

Search was on for the fourth accused, the police added.