Maharashtra: Rains lash Pune city, disrupt road traffic

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Maharashtra's Pune witnessed waterlogging in several areas of the city on Saturday evening following a heavy spell of monsoon showers, reported the PTI.

The streets were flooded in some areas, forcing people to walk in waist-deep water, according to the PTI.

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Traffic jams were witnessed in several places.

The fire department received at least 31 calls about incidents of tree fall, as per the PTI.

Areas such as Lohegaon, Dhanori, Kothrud, Deccan Gymkhana and Swargate witnessed waterlogging.

According to the weather department, the Shivaji Nagar area recorded 67 mm of rainfall from morning till 5.30 pm, the news agency reported.

Maharashtra deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who is also the guardian minister of the district spoke to the municipal commissioner and district collector and took stock of the situation, officials said.

BMC trying to avoid repeat of Marine Drive flooding this monsoon

Meanwhile, after Marine Drive flooded last year due to small rocks getting stuck in the rainwater outfall at Patan Jain Road, the coastal road department reinstalled tetrapods around the outfall as per the instructions from the stormwater department (SWD). The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), however, is not sure whether this will prevent rubble from entering the outfall during extreme high tides.

The landscape of the city changes every decade as more of sea area is reclaimed, resulting in unusual situations such as the flooding of the Marine Drive stretch, between Churchgate and Marine Lines railway stations, on July 27, 2023. As a result of the flooding, vehicular traffic was affected while Western Railway (WR) services were disrupted for more than two hours.

A WR spokesperson at the time said that outfall culverts were operating at half capacity and all manholes on the west side of the tracks till Marine Drive were overflowing. Afterwards, the BMC issued a statement that small rocks that were swept away by powerful waves got stuck in the outfall of Patan Jain Road. Though the outfall site is beyond the construction boundary of the Coastal Road, tetrapods in and around the outfall were removed for the construction of the project's sea wall.

Learning from the experience, the coastal road department started reinstalling tetrapods from the south side of the project for a few metres up to Marine Lines Police Gymkhana.

(with PTI inputs)