Mumbai, Jul 24 (IANS): The IMD has issued an Orange alert in 8 districts of Maharashtra for Tuesday amid possibility of heavy to very heavy rains, even as the current bouts of heavy rains could subside over the weekend.

The districts are Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Kolhapur, and Satara in the coastal and western Maharashtra regions - which have been lashed with heavy rains since the past over a week now.

On Wednesday, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, and Gadchiroli will be on Orange alert. An Orange alert is sounded for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Satara, Pune, Chandrapur and Gondia on Thursday, and only for Satara on Friday, as per the IMD.

However, by the weekend, most districts in the state are likely to revert to Green or Yellow zones as the intensity of the current monsoon spell weakens, providing some relief to the people.

For the past 10 days, most parts of Maharashtra, especially the coastal Konkan, western, northern and eastern regions, have been clobbered by heavy rains, resulting in floods, hillslides, water-logging in huge tracts of farmlands, homes, public and private properties, besides claiming more than 75 lives in different rain-related tragedies.