Flash floods as Pune gets intense spell of rain

The localized nature of this rainfall, Anupam Kashyapi, former head of weather forecasting India Meteorological Department said, was because the cloud cell formed and passed by that area.

Vadgaonsheri in the past one day had received 120.5 mm of rainfall–with most of the rainfall occurring between 1100 and 1400 hours. Kashyapi mentioned that technically this was not a cloudburst–it was what is termed as intense to very intense spell of rain. “The localised nature of the rainfall is due to the formation of the cloud cell–the cloud had formed near Lohegaon and then started moving.

Thus the rainfall in these areas was very intense,” he said. A cloud burst is defined when an area gets more than 100 mm of rain within a short span of one hour.

The heavy rain in Vadgaonsheri saw areas of Dhanori and Lohegaon report flash flood. Overflowing rainwater drains and have seen many residents complain of flood water entering homes of people in those areas. Similar was the situation in and around other parts of the city. Koregaon Park had reported 80 mm of rainfall, while Shivajinagar reported 68.3 mm of rain. Most areas of Pune have reported good rainfall–a much needed relief from the scorching heat.

Officials of the fire brigade said water had flooded some of the housing society in Thube Park area of Lohegaon. The subway near Ramwadi which connects Kalyaninagar and Vimannagar was also flooded. In low lying areas of Dhanori, residents had reported water entering their homes. Fire brigade officials said the calls started from afternoon and went on till evening. “We tried to use pumps to evacuate water logged areas – but it did not work,” the officials said.

These rains are typical of the pre-monsoon rain which start in the evening and continue for a short spell. Kashyapi said all these signs are favourable of a quick entry of the monsoon in the state and city. At present the monsoon has advanced more in Karnataka and conditions are favourable for further movement towards peninsular India.

Meanwhile, waterlogging and increased number of vehicles on the road during peak hours in the evening led to traffic jams and snarls in many parts of the city on Wednesday when an intense spell of rain occurred.

Officials from traffic control room said that traffic jams and snarls were reported from some central Peth area of city, Pune University junction, connected roads in Pashan, Baner and Aundh, Solapur Road, Ahmednagar and some parts of Satara Road in Pune. The jams and snarls were reported between 5.30 pm and 8.30 pm.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Rohidas Pawar said, “The key reason for traffic snarls in many parts of the city was waterlogging due to an intense spell of rains. Lower available carriage width at some places and increased numbers of cars on roads due to rains were other factors. Our full strength of traffic police personnel was deployed to manage the traffic.”

Monsoon onset from today

Kashyapi said conditions are now favourable for the onset of monsoon in Pune and other parts of western Maharashtra by Thursday. He said by June 10, the whole of the state may be covered by the monsoon much earlier than its expected dates.