Heavy rains batter Pune; 268 mm rainfall so far in October

Heavy rains battered Maharashtras Pune city overnight and on Tuesday morning causing waterlogging and forcing evacuation of people from lowlying areas as the Shivajinagar locality alone received 104 mm rainfall in just five hoursAccording to the India Meteorological Department IMD Pune city an education and IT hub has received 268 mm rainfall so far in OctoberWaterlogging was witnessed in many areas including Hadapsar Market Yard Sinhagad Road NIBM Road B T Kawade Road Katraj Deccan Karve Nagar Kothrud and KondhwaSome people staying in lowlying areas and near banks of the the Karha river were shifted to safer places district authorities saidSeven goats were swept away in floodwaters in the Kanhur Mesai area of Shirur tehsil of the western Maharashtra city they saidAlso read Maharashtra rains 13 areas of Marathwada region receive excess rainfallAccording to the IMD Shivajinagar recorded 104 mm rainfall in about five hours till 3 am on Tuesday Magarpatta 116 mm and the Pashan area 94 mm during the same periodTwelve people stranded in rainwaters in Mangalwar Peth and Kondhwa areas were rescued and moved to safer places fire brigade officials saidTwenty families staying near the Karha river in Jalgaon Kathe Pathar village of Baramati tehsil were also shifted after the river swelled following the release of water at the rate of 35000 cubic foot per second cusec from the Nazre dam district officials saidIMDs weather forecasting department head Anupam Kashyapi said the satellite images revealed There was enough moisture in the stateThe rain activity in the city will reduce from Wednesday he addedSpeaking about heavy showers on late Monday night and subsequent waterlogging in various parts of the city Vikram Kumar Commissioner Pune MunicipalCorporation said this years rainfall in the month of October has been unprecedentedA few days ago too the city had received heavy showersYesterday in a couple of hours 105 mm rainfall was recorded Rainfall of 65 mm in a few hours is considered heavy rainfall However yesterday almost double that rainfall was witnessed in the city he saidHe said the PMCs stormwater system has been designed to handle 65 mm of rainfall but on late Monday night and in early hours of Tuesday 105 mm of showers was received which led to waterlogging and inundation of roadsWhen such a rain activity takes place a lot of mud soil and plastic go into stormwater lines which leads to obstruction in water flow Our teams were on the ground to remove all these hurdles yesterday said the senior bureaucratAsked if there was a need to revamp stormwater lines in the city the civic commissioner said the drainage system was designed after taking into consideration average rainfall of the last 100 yearsLeader of the Opposition in the Assembly Ajit Pawar of the Nationalist Congress Party NCP criticised the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party BJP over waterlogging in the cityPawar an MLA from Pune district said the BJP has left the IT and education hub in a mess in the name of making it a smart cityThe BJP was in power in the Pune civic corporation for five years till the tenure of the elected body ended earlier this yearThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever