Traffic crawls at Jangli Maharaj Road as heavy rain pounded the city on Friday (Express photo by Oshwin Kadhao)For the second consecutive day, Pune city on Friday evening witnessed multiple intense rainfall spells, leading to traffic snarls and severe water-logging. Shivajinagar recorded 35.1mm of rain in under two hours on Friday afternoon.
Gusty winds resulted in trees getting uprooted, worsening vehicular movement along Law College Road, Senapati Bapat Road and other locations in Shivajinagar.
Officials of the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune, noted rising moisture levels in the city and neighbouring areas due to the prevailing cyclonic circulation over the Bay of Bengal, off Andhra Pradesh coast. This, clubbed with higher than normal day temperatures, was making it conducive for convective (lightning, thunder and rainfall) over Pune.
Traffic slows down on a rain-soaked stretch of Bombay-Bangalore Highway where work is in progress, a day before the Chandani Chowk bridge is to be demolished. (Express Photo by Arul Horizon) “Due to this cyclonic circulation, there is presence of moisture over Maharashtra. Pune and neighbouring areas will experience such short duration rain spells accompanied by thunder and lightning activity, mostly during afternoon or evening hours till October 6,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather forecasting division, Pune.
Between Thursday and Friday evening (5.30 pm), Pune received nearly 60mm of rain.
As another Southwest Monsoon season ended on Friday, Pune city’s seasonal rainfall measured 817.4 mm, which was 34 per cent above normal. Pune district’s seasonal rain, too, ended at 33 per cent surplus. The season, overall, has been a good one for Maharashtra, recording normal rainfall measuring 1219mm (23 per cent) surplus. Many districts in Madhya Maharashtra, Vidarbha and Marathwada recorded even 50 per cent surplus during the last four months, the IMD’s rainfall data stated.
The wettest districts in the state included Nashik (61 per cent), Wardha (56 per cent), Nagpur (54 per cent), Nanded (46 per cent) and Gadchiroli (44 per cent). After 8 pm on Friday, wind gusts picked up and the rainfall band shifted towards Chinchwad and Wakad areas.
Auto driver dies after tree falls on his vehicle
An auto-rickshaw driver died after a tree, uprooted by the heavy rain, fell on his vehicle in Yerwada on Friday evening.
The victim was Jagdishsingh Sangar (30).
After receiving information about the incident, a team of Pune City Police and Fire Brigade rushed to the spot.
The victim was taken to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Nearly 60 incidents of trees being uprooted were reported in different parts of the city due to heavy rain on Friday. Fire Brigade teams visited the sites and cleared the routes.