Pune: At least five people died and two were feared dead in rain-related incidents as heavy showers since Saturday evening and throughout Sunday pounded most parts of Maharashtra , sending rivers across Pune, Nashik, Sangli and Kolhapur in spate and causing floods in low-lying areas. Several areas, including Thane, Lonavla and Mahabaleshwar recorded triple-digit rainfall. One person died and another was swept away in Nashik district, while a BMC staffer drowned in the Bhatsa in Thane’s Shahapur.
Two brothers and their cousin drowned in Jalgaon’s Bhokarbari dam, while a youth was feared dead in Nagpur and 4 friends had a narrow escape as their car was swept away while trying to cross a low bridge on the Katta river. In Pune, officials had to seek assistance from the Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) in an elaborate exercise to evacuate people from affected areas. Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis said on X that the Pune divisional commissioner, the district collector, the municipal commissioner and other govt officials were constantly in touch with state irrigation authorities over the likelihood of an increase in discharge from the Khadakwasla dam.
“Army and NDRF have been kept on standby to ensure there is no trouble if more water is discharged from the dam in the night,” he said. Fadnavis posted a similar message for Nashik too as the discharge from the Gangapur dam increased in the wake of heavy rain since Saturday night. IMD has sounded a red alert for the ghat sections in Nashik and Satara districts, and a yellow alert for ghats in Pune and Kolhapur districts.
There is no immediate respite for Pune city as the IMD has predicted light to moderate rainfall till August 10. “Light to moderate rain is expected in the plains of madhya Maharashtra region, which stretches from Nashik up north and Kolhapur down south with Pune at the centre, for the next few days with possibility of windy weather conditions,” an IMD official said. In Pune, irrigation authorities had to increase the discharge from the Khadakwasla dam at the rate of 45,000 cubic foot per second (cusecs) at 5.
30pm on Sunday from the earlier 35,000 cusecs at 11am. A senior irrigation officer told TOI, “Though the rain has abated in the Khadakwasla catchment, it has continued in the Varasgaon and Temghar catchments with more than 100mm rain recorded at these locations since 8.30am on Sunday.
The possibility of more discharge cannot be ruled out and the decision to regulate the discharge will be taken depending on the rainfall activity.” (With inputs from Swati Shinde Gole , Mihir Tanksale & Sarang Dastane).
