On Wednesday, as cyclone Nisarga wreaked havoc in Pune accompanied by strong winds and heavy rains, several people were affected while some were left homeless.

Two people have reportedly died and three others have been severely injured because of the devastating storm. More than 140 houses have been damaged and destroyed as house roofs blew away and several trees were uprooted. However, as expected the cyclone had a much lighter impact in the Pune districts and in some rural parts of the city where average rainfall along with gusty winds was experienced.

Jayashree Kate, Resident Deputy District Collector of Pune stated that more than 100 ‘kutcha houses’ were partially destroyed because of the cyclonic storm in the Pune districts.

Manjabai Navaled, 65, has lost her life due to the storm and her family of three members living in Vahagaon village in Khed tehsil were left heavily injured as their wall and a part of the house roof had fallen in. Another similar incident was reported in Mokarwadi in Haveli district where a 52-year-old man, identified as Prakash Mokar died of severe injuries while he was trying to protect his roof from blowing away because of the stormy winds by holding on to the tin sheets.

In some of the rural areas, several deaths of cattle were also reported. The strong winds have uprooted many heavy trees in rural places. 105 houses including 36 shanties in different areas of the district especially in Mulshi and Maval have been partly damaged.

The Indian Meteorological Department said, “Severe cyclonic storm ‘Nisarga’ has weakened into a cyclonic storm over coastal Maharashtra. Light to moderate rainfall at most places, heavy to heavy falls at isolated places very likely in Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh next 24 hours.”

Chief Executive Officer of Pune Zilla Parishad, Ayush Prasad informed about the preparations going on as soon as the IMD declared the possibility of the formation of a tropical cyclone that may hit the Western parts of Gujarat and Maharashtra as a low pressure area developed in the Arabian Sea.

Around 30 people who lived in landslide prone places mainly in Mulshi were shifted by the authorities to safe areas.

Ambulances and police helplines were provided by Zilla Parishad officers for prompt service in case of emergency situations. Officials from Extension Department and Circle officers were also engaged in order to manage the situations in Gram Panchayat levels.