The India Meteorological Department on Wednesday said that the West coast, Central and northwestern parts of the country will receive widespread and heavy rains during this week.

“There is a low pressure area over South West Madhya Pradesh and its neighbourhood,” the weather department said in a statement. “It is very likely to move west-northwestwards during the next 24 hours.”

Formation of low-pressure areas typically result in rainfall.

The India Meteorological Department also said that a shear zone was likely to stay over the south peninsular India during the next 24 hours. The rain-bearing monsoon is most active in shear zones, where winds from opposite directions clash.

The weather department added that a fresh low pressure area could form in the Bay of Bengal around Saturday.

These weather systems are expected to bring “fairly widespread to widespread rainfall” in Konkan [a region along the western coast], Goa, Gujarat and coastal Karnataka. Central Maharashtra and Marathwada regions will get widespread rain between September 8 and 12.

The department has warned about flooding of roads, inundation and water logging in low lying areas. It also cited the possibility of damage to minor roads and occurrence of localised landslides.

“Scattered to widespread rainfall very likely over most parts of northwest India till September 12, 2021,” the IMD said. “Isolated heavy [rain]falls very likely over Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal, Pradesh, Punjab and Haryana between September 8 and 11.”

Parts of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are also expected to receive heavy rainfall from September 8.

The rainfall activity will increase over Odisha and coastal Andhra Pradesh from September 11. Chhattisgarh, Telangana and West Bengal will get heavy rains from September 12.