39mm rain in 30 minutes leads to waterlogging, power disruption in Nashik city

Nashik: Unseasonal rainfall lashed parts of Nashik city and district on Thursday evening, leading to waterlogging at several locations, power outages and traffic snarls.Nashik city recorded 39mm rainfall within just 30 minutes, catching residents off guard. The sudden bout of intense rainfall resulted in water accumulation on several arterial roads in the low-lying areas and localities.Commuters were stranded in traffic jams as vehicles moved slowly through waterlogged stretches in several parts of the city. Power supply was also disrupted in many areas, adding to the inconvenience for the residents.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a yellow alert for Nashik on Friday and forecast light to moderate rainfall over the weekend."The rainfall affected the entire Panchavati, Cidco, Nashik Road and Satpur divisions, along with parts of Nashik East and Nashik West divisions of the municipal corporation," a civic official said.In rural parts of the district, heavy rainfall accompanied by hailstorm impacted areas of Sinnar, Yeola Niphad, Baglan, Dindori and Kalwan talukas, causing damage to standing crops.Crops such as onions, wheat and maize were affected by the rain. Meanwhile, unseasonal rainfall in March already caused major damage to crops in the district.Bharat Dighole, president of the Maharashtra State Onion Growers Association, said crops that were ready for harvest, particularly onions, suffered damage due to the unseasonal rains over the past fortnight, including Thursday's downpour.He demanded that state govt immediately conduct panchanamas of the crop damage and provide financial relief to affected farmers as per government norms.According to primary assessment by the state agriculture department, around 24,000 hectares of onion crop has been damaged across Nashik district, affecting nearly 43,000 farmers in about 260 villages.Baglan taluka has reported the highest loss, with crops damaged on 14,376 hectares, followed by Malegaon taluka where around 6,000 hectares have been affected.