Rain lashes ghats of Kolhapur & Satara; showers cool down Sangli too

Kolhapur: Rain lashed the Western Ghat sections of Kolhapur and Satara on Sunday, while scattered showers hit Sangli and Kolhapur districts following a day of intense heat and humidity. While the rain brought relief from the heat, it also triggered disruption and waterlogging in several areas.People reported a sudden weather change. “We were returning to our home in Kolhapur from Goa. Since morning, there had been drizzles in Konkan. While we were crossing the ghat areas, the showers started,” said Advait Shinde, a Kolhapur resident.In Sangli, the sudden shift from heat to rain caught many off guard. “It was hot the whole day, and suddenly the temperature dropped. There were high-speed winds and lightning. The power supply was disrupted,” said Swapnil Suryawanshi.The first spell of rain exposed gaps in Sangli’s urban infrastructure, particularly drainage systems. “The showers in the city clogged the drains. A foot-high level of water was flowing on the roads,” said Sangli activist Satish Sakhalkar.Waterlogging was also reported at the Miraj state transport bus stand after intense showers. “For one and a half hours, heavy rain lashed Miraj. However, there was no rain in rural parts of Miraj tehsil,” said resident Pravin Pawar.According to data from the Real Time Data Acquisition System under the National Hydrology Project, several locations recorded rainfall, including Virdi in Sindhudurg (68mm), Amboli (20mm), Radhanagari (23mm), Gaganbawda (15mm), Ajara (3mm), Navaja near Koyna (around 2mm), and Patherpunj on the Sangli-Satara border (14mm).Sangli city recorded 38mm of rainfall, while Palus received 28mm. Showers were also reported in the Shirol tehsil of Kolhapur district. Kolhapur city got 1mm rainfall, though dark cloud cover persisted for hours, indicating the onset of further rain activity in the region.Monsoon likely to cover other parts of state over the week: IMDMeanwhile, the southwest monsoon entered Maharashtra on Saturday and is expected to cover other parts of the state over the week. “Existing weather conditions will cause rain at some locations in Maharashtra, such as Konkan and coastal areas,” said a senior official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).An IMD press release said a number of weather systems were present around the country on Sunday. Conditions are favourable for further advance of southwest monsoon into some more parts of central Arabian Sea, Maharashtra, Karnataka, some parts of Telangana, some more parts of Andhra Pradesh, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu, southwest Bay of Bengal and some more parts of westcentral and northwest Bay of Bengal, parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha, remaining parts of northeastern states and some parts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal and Sikkim during the next three to four days, the release said.The forecast said isolated to scattered rainfall was likely over Konkan and Goa between June 10 and June 13, Gujarat region, Madhya Maharashtra and Marathawada between June 7 and June 13, Saurashtra and Kutch on June 7 and from June 11 to June 13.