Pune: The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert for Pune, Satara and Raigad districts as the monsoon regains strength over Maharashtra. The warning, in effect for the next two days, cautions of extremely heavy rainfall in isolated locations across the ghat areas of Pune and Satara. As rainfall intensified on Friday night, a landslide at Anuskura Ghat brought traffic to a complete standstill on the Rajapur-Kolhapur highway.
The IMD (India Meteorological Department) has warned of the potential for more landslides because of the upcoming downpours. S D Sanap, scientist,IMD, Pune, said, "Monsoon is active over the state, while the offshore trough has strengthened and now runs from south Gujarat to south Kerala coast. The low-level westerly flow from the Arabian Sea along the northern parts of the west peninsular coast has strengthened since Friday.
It is likely to continue to be so during the next two-three days. In addition, a well-marked low pressure area over the Bay of Bengal has been moving westward. This is also strengthening the monsoon flow, causing an increase in rainfall even in interior Maharashtra.
Hence, suitable warnings have been issued, including heavy rainfall in Pune city for a couple of days." Independent weather forecaster Abhijit Modak said, "The weather system responsible for the monsoon revival is a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal. As it moves westward, its associated trough is expected to tilt southwestward, drawing moisture into .