Pune: A spell of heavy showers, accompanied by thunder and lightning, lashed most parts of the city late on Monday evening, with the IMD registering 81mm of rain in Shivajinagar in around an hour.
It started with a drizzle around 8.30pm and the rain picked up intensity later on to continue past midnight. The downpour affected life on the streets across the city, leaving roads inundated and slowing down traffic. The rain also brought down the minimum temperature to 21ºC in Shivajinagar.
The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) radar images on Monday showed huge cloud mass associated with cumulonimbus cloud (thundery cloud) for a long time over the city and its adjoining areas. A Met department official said a moderate to intense spell lashed Pune on Monday night. The cloud depth was around 11 km, and the Met department expected moderate rain in the core region under the cloud cover.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather forecasting division, IMD, Pune, said, “Moisture incursion will occur from both the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal side during the next 24 hours. Similar kind of rain activity can be expected in the afternoon and evening hours on Tuesday as well. The rain activity will start reducing marginally from Wednesday.”
The IMD issued a warning on the likely impact expected from the intense spells. “Roads are very slippery, even muddy and partially damaged, (potholes are already there in and around city ). It could be dangerous to drive/ride on such roads during an intense spell. Uprooting of roadside trees may also occur, and branches may fall. There is also a serious threat of water logging or temporary flooding in low lying areas (due to release of water from dams), Kuccha and cracked houses may collapse, while a few old bridges are highly vulnerable.”
In Kondhwa, several areas and housing societies reported severe waterlogging. “Our parking area is flooded and we had to move out our vehicles. There is information that a society wall nearby has collapsed too,” said a resident of a society along the Salunke Vihar Road. Many people were stuck and the thunder and lightning made matters worse for people.
A Pune fire brigade officer said, “Areas near the Yevalewadi crematorium, NIBM Road and Sukhsagarnagar were flooded. We have received a complaint of a short circuit at a power meter box at Somwar Peth. There was also a complaint related to a tree getting uprooted near Akashwani in Hadapsar.”
Waterlogging was also reported from various localities in the Shivajinagar area. Vehicular traffic slowed down on various stretches of roads, including Sangamwadi road, JM Road, Ghole Road and Mula road. Commuters at the MSRTC bus terminus on old Mumbai-Pune road in Wakdewadi faced hardship due to the downpour. Street lights went off in the Khadki area, while a subway at Wakdewadi witnessed heavy water logging.
In Kothrud, the roads around the Karve statue, Mahatma society, Dahanukar colony and Sahajanand colony were left heavily waterlogged. A similar situation prevailed in the Ramnagar and Patilnagar areas of Bavdhan. Two-wheeler riders were seen parked their vehicles on the roadside and taking shelters under the newly built Metro line and flyovers along Karve Road and Paud Road.
Residents of a housing society in Bibwewadi, fearing a repeat of the 2019 floods, removed their cars from the basement parking lots. “There was also a power outage in the area. People are all awake and alert,” said a resident.
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