Maharashtra: Red alert issued by IMD in Pune as monsoon strengthens

After several days of relentless downpours across Maharashtra the India Meteorological Department IMD on Monday May 26 issued a red alert for Pune district warning of extremely heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning in the coming hoursThe advisory follows five consecutive days of intense rainfall that have severely disrupted daily life in Pune Several major roads have been submerged resembling streams while floodlike conditions have emerged in lowlying areas such as Daund and Baramati which recorded 117 mm and 10475 mm of rainfall respectively on MondayState on high alertThe chief ministerrsquos office CMO is closely monitoring the evolving situation and has directed all administrative departments to remain on high alert The CMO has instructed officials to immediately assess damage in affected areas and remain in constant communication with the statersquos chief secretary and the Disaster Management Cell Heavy rainfall has been reported in Pune Satara Solapur Raigad Mumbai and the Mumbai Metropolitan RegionA graphic highlighting the progress of the southwest monsoon as of May 26 PICIMDIn Baramati 25 houses sustained partial damage and seven stranded citizens were successfully rescued while 7080 families were being relocated to safer areas Mobile services which were disrupted earlier were being gradually restored In Indapur which recorded 6325 mm of rainfall two residents were rescued from floodhit zonesAcross the statePhaltan recorded a staggering 1635 mm of rainfall A National Disaster Response Force NDRF team has been deployed to the area near Dudhebavi village where 30 stranded citizens were provided with shelter and foodIn Solapur 6775 mm of rainfall was recorded Six people trapped by floods in Malshiras taluka were safely evacuated In Pandharpur efforts were underway to rescue three individuals stranded in the Bhima riverbed In Raigad a lightning strike claimed one life The road connecting Mahad to Raigad Fort was closed due to heavy rainfallAhead of scheduleThe IMD has confirmed a significant and early advance of the southwest monsoon which has already reached Mumbai Pune Kalaburagi Mahbubnagar Kavali Agartala and Gopalpara mdash covering large parts of central western and northeastern IndiaAs of May 26 the monsoon has spread further into the central Arabian Sea Maharashtra Karnataka including Bengaluru and the remaining parts of Tamil Nadu It has also advanced into Telangana Andhra Pradesh parts of West Bengal and the northern Bay of Bengal The northeastern states mdash Mizoram Tripura Manipur Nagaland Arunachal Pradesh Assam and Meghalaya mdash have begun receiving showersAccording to IMD officials this yearrsquos monsoon is progressing ahead of the normal schedule particularly over the Bay of Bengal and northeastern regions The early arrival is expected to ease summer conditions and bolster agricultural activities in rainfed regions With favourable atmospheric and oceanic conditions the monsoon is expected to continue advancing northward in the coming days bringing muchneeded rainfall but also the potential for localised flooding and disruptionsatOptionskeyd0ddb8ef8f1a62a8cdd22fac27fc5ea7formatiframeheight90width728params