A waterlogged Jangali Maharaj Road on Friday. ExpressSeveral parts of Pune witnessed traffic snarls after major roads in the city got waterlogged following intense rainfall on Friday afternoon.
Shivajinagar — the worst-affected area — recorded 78.1 mm between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm (12 hours), with 74.3 mm between 4 pm and 5.30 pm (1.5 hours), said the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Pune. Other areas like Pashan, Magarpatta, Lavale and Chinchwad recorded 48.4 mm, 36.5 mm, 30.5 mm and 8.7 mm, respectively, between 8.30 am and 8.30 pm (12 hours).
IMD (Pune) said Maharashtra has been experiencing a high-moisture incursion during all of this week, which has resulted in intense rainfall during the late afternoon or evening hours. Such intense rainfall is normally associated with the withdrawal of the southwest monsoon, it added.
“The moisture levels in the state have been depleting at a relatively slower rate than other northern India regions. This is mainly due to the prevalence of a cyclonic circulation off the Konkan-Goa coast, which has been attracting moist winds over the southern regions of Maharashtra, all the way up to Pune,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather forecasting division, IMD (Pune). Earlier on Friday, the IMD announced the commencement of the withdrawal of southwest monsoon from the state’s northernmost areas, with the same passing through Raxaul (Bihar), Daltonganj (Jharkhand), Pendra Road (Chhattisgarh), Chhindwara (Madhya Pradesh), Jalgaon and Dahanu (both in Maharashtra).
The Met department also said that the monsoon would further retreat from more areas of Maharashtra — likely including Mumbai, Nashik, Pune and Ahmednagar — in the next two to three days.