Seventeen feared dead as intense rains wreak havoc in Pune district

Pune: At least 17 persons lost their lives in separate rain-related incidents across Pune district while four others are believed to be missing after an intense spell of heavy showers battered the city and caught residents napping on the intervening night between Tuesday and Wednesday. According to authorities, 12 people lost their lives in different incidents within Pune city, while five more deaths were reported in the adjoining areas of Pune.

The city recorded an average 53.1 mm of rainfall (during the past 24 hours) till 8.30 a.m. on Thursday. Intense spells of rain over a four hour period in some parts of Pune city and the district threw life completely off gear causing wide spread damage to life and property.

Scores of animals, mainly livestock, became the unfortunate casualties of nature’s fury as strong water flows from overflowing lakes and canals wreaked havoc on the city’s residential areas. Businesses, shanties, bridges and public spaces across a wide area between Katraj and Dandekar Bridge were badly affected.

Five deaths were reported from the Khed Shivapur village in Haveli thesil, 25 km away from Pune city. Officials said that the carcasses of more than 60 livestock were found scattered at different points in the city, some even on top of damaged vehicles.

“Since Wednesday night, Pune has experienced a cloudburst-like situation, in which some people were washed away while some unfortunately died owing to the collapse of a compound wall. Disaster management teams and NDRF teams were rushed to the spot. Moreover, 15,000 people in Baramati in Pune district have been moved to safer places as the city was facing the threat of a deluge,” said Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, stating that he, along with Pune Guardian Minister Chandrakant Patil, were closely monitoring the situation which is now under control.

Frantic rescue operations, including those of women and children, were conducted by Fire brigade teams and NDRF jawans till late Wednesday night and the wee hours of Thursday. In one incident, a 10-month-old toddler, who was stranded along with his family in the city’s Parvati area, was rescued by Fire brigade officials. As the water levels receded, worried citizens were seen searching for their vehicles, several of which were washed away by the strong water currents to other parts of the city.

While the rains completely stopped in the morning, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) Municipal Commissioner Saurabh Rao informed that the rescue operations were still on in around 30 locations across Pune city owing to water-logging in many parts.

“There are several areas in the city where the floodwaters have damaged roads, destroyed pumping stations and disrupted electricity supply. Right now, we are concentrating on rescue and relief operations and restarting electricity supply,” said Rao.

He further said that the India Meteorological Department (IMD) alert warning of heavy to very heavy spells of rain was received by the administration only at 9.00 p.m. on Wednesday evening. “The warnings of midnight showers had been put up on our website since Monday. Despite the intense spells of rain for a few hours, the overall rainfall over the city is moderate. The showers are the result of a local instability generated by a rise in the daytime temperature,” said Dr. Anupam Kashyapi, Head, Weather & Air Pollution Monitoring Unit, IMD.

According to IMD officials, more rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms was expected in Pune along with Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra between Thursday night and the wee hours of Friday and that the intensity was expected to reduce only by this weekend.