Bombay, June 2: Bombay and suburbs were lashed by heavy rain and gusty winds since the early hours of this morning.

A spokesman of the Colaba Observatory told THE HINDU that the rains were due to the influence of the cyclone centered at 180 km in the Arabian Sea west of Bombay.

The rain abated this afternoon and this came as a relief to thousands of commuters anxious to reach home.

Between 2 a.m. and 8:30 a.m. to-day Colaba recorded 30.2 mm of rainfall. Santacruz 3.8 mm and Worli 18 mm —FOC

Samachar reports:

The movement of ships in and out of Bombay harbour was affected and rail communications slightly disrupted following heavy rain. The trains started running behind schedule following the snapping of overhead cables at a point near Andheri. There was no disruption of traffic on Central Railway.

The Colaba Observatory in a late night bulletin said “very high to phenomenal” seas were likely and a storm surge six metres above the normal astronomical tide might also prevail.

The storm was likely to move in a north-northeast direction along the South Gujarat coast between Mahuva and Bhavnagar by to-morrow morning.