INDIA. Mumbai: The southwest monsoon on its way to withdrawal, wreaked havoc as heavy rains accompanied by gusty winds, lashed the Pune city and adjoining areas from evening till late night on Saturday.
Although there was bright sunshine in the day, heavy downpour began in the evening and continued till late night. In its fury several areas were inundated, trees were uprooted and the water entered into the shops and housing colonies. In some places, the vehicles were seen floating in the floodwaters.
The heavy rainfall was recorded within few hours. The rainfall included Lohegaon- 75.8mm, Shivajinagar-49.2mm, and Chinchwad- 70mm.
The city was gripped with thunderstorms and lightning which later resulted in intense rainfall. Several instances of water-logging were reported in Tingrenagar and Agarkarnagar near Pune railway station. The inundated areas included Viman Nagar, Dhanori, Yerwada, Nagpur Chawl, and Vishranwadi.
Due to the heavy rains over 300 passengers were stranded at Lohegaon airport since the adjoining roads were flooded. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, who was returning from Aurangabad by road, got stranded at Shastri Chowk on Pune-Ahmednagar road, due to a traffic jam.
KS Hosalikar, deputy director-general, India Meteorological Department (IMD) Mumbai, said that Pune witnessed moderate to intense rainfall on Saturday. Along with rainfall, thunder and lightning were also associated with gusty winds and intense spells of rain since 4 pm. Till 6:30 pm, many places recorded good rains with Daund reporting 63.5mm rainfall and many stations reported rainfall close to moderate rainfall.
The Weather Bureau has forecast heavy rainfall on Sunday.“Thundery activity and lightning along with light to moderate rainfall are likely on October 10. Ghat areas are also likely to witness isolated heavy rainfall. Day in Pune is likely to be partly cloudy,” IMD officials said.
