PUNE: It took Preeti Pardeshi nearly 90 minutes to reach her home near the Pune-RTO from Kalyaninagar, a distance of less than 5km, as all roads on the way were inundated due to the intense spell of rain on Saturday evening.
“As I moved out of Kalyaninagar at 7.30pm and took Central avenue, the road looked flooded. I took some bylanes, which were also inundated and vehicles could barely move. At Shastrinagar Chowk, water was almost touching the knees. I saw a woman falling from her scooter. Thankfully, a passerby came to her rescue. Reaching home was an ordeal,” said Pardeshi, a store executive by profession.
The rain caught Navratra shoppers unawares, drenching many who had ventured out in the evening. The city received a sharp spell for nearly half-an-hour to 45 minutes, with Shivajinagar receiving 49.2 mm of rain in a short time.
Lohegaon received a significant 75.8mm of rain from 8.30am till 8:30 pm on Saturday. From 8.30am till 5:30 pm, Lohegaon had received 40mm rain. During the evening shower, it received another 35.8 mm rain. Chinchwad also received about 70mm of rain from 5.30pm to 8.30pm, India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed.
Massive water logging occurred in areas such as Kalyaninagar, Kondhwa and Shivajinagar due to the convective rain. The Pune city fire brigade received seven calls for flooding on the roads and an equal number of calls about water entering houses in the low-lying areas. Among the affected areas were Yerawada, Tingrenagar, Dhanori, Mumjaba Vasti, Wakadewadi, Taiwan road and Kalyaninagar.
Four trees fell due to the intense spell. The fire brigade was removing trees from various roads in Yerawada and the old parts of the city till late in the night. The basements of a few housing societies in Yerawada remained submerged till the time of going to the press.
Traffic snarls were reported from the Vimannagar, Dhanori and Wadgaonsheri areas. Vehicular movement on the Ahmednagar road remained disrupted for nearly an hour due to the rain. A thunder bolt also hit an electricity pole located near Undri gram panchayat. Following this, electricity meter boxes of a society caught fire. Fire brigade officials rushed to the site and extinguished the flames.
Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) deputy commissioner Madhav Jagtap said earthmoving machines were deployed in Dhanori to clear the blockages. The flooding triggered a traffic snarl on Dhanori road. Mayor Muralidhar Mohol said civic teams had been deployed at the water-logged locations. Local MLA Sunil Tingre said water gushed into many houses in the low-lying areas of Vadgaonsheri andDhanori.
The Central avenue lane in Kalyaninagar, which has rarely seen any waterlogging during monsoon, was flooded on Saturday evening. The lane next to Neptune Society had ankle-deep water. Similar was the scene at the Joggers’ Park street. Many passengers were stuck at the airport due to the rain, as they could not find any autorickshaw or cab. Ganesh M, a flyer, tweeted, “I reached Pune around 7pm and had to go to Swargate. But I was stuck in the traffic for hours.”
Between 6pm and 9pm, six arriving flights and seven departing flights were delayed due to the rain. Alpana Jolly, a flyer, tweeted, “All passengers stranded at the airport and there is no mode of conveyance. Huge traffic jam outside.”
Kalyaninagar resident Anand Bagmar, who had gone to the airport to pick up his relative, said it took him 2.5 hours to reach his residence.
Convective rain is associated with local instability and accompanied with thundery activity and lightning. During daytime, temperature is high, which can cause formation of cumulonimbus clouds, particularly in afternoon and evening time. These clouds are thunder clouds which cause convective rains. Such rains are usually intense and last for half an hour to an hour.
Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather forecasting, IMD, Pune, said, “Lohegaon and Chinchwad recorded 70mm or more rain on Saturday. This is isolated heavy rain and a result of local instability. High temperature (around 33°C) with high moisture led to formation of 2-3 octa cumulous clouds in, which turned into one octa cumulonimbus clouds on Saturday evening/night. This caused moderate to isolated heavy rain even in city areas.”
