Nightmare continues for Puneites

As rain lashed Westerns parts of the city for the second time in a week,two labourers died after a wall collapsed on a hut. A PhD student at National Chemical laboratory died after he was drifted away by the heavy flow of water in Baner. Condition of one labourer from the same hut is said to be critical.

A heavy downpour started around 7:30pm and continued till 10pm. The Pashan area received the highest rainfall. Streets were flooded by 8:30pm. Vishnu Mance,assistant commissioner of police for Chatushrungi division,said,“Three men who were sleeping in a hut made by attaching tin sheets to the compound wall of National Institute of Virology,got trapped as the wall collapsed at 10 pm. The local residents took them out. Two of them,Shambhu Mandal (35) and Harilal Samadar (36),were declared dead at Sassoon Hospital. The third person,Prasannajeet Mal (21),was also injured and is said to be critical.”

Chief Fire Officer Prashant Ranpise said,“We received more than 50 calls on Tuesday night. Out of which six were of trees collapsing,one about oil from a two-wheeler spilling over road,31 calls of water logging and about 10 of water entering into residential compounds.” A heavy flow of water coming out of Armament Research and Development Establishment (ARDE) premises caused water logging on Pashan Road. A traffic jam on Baner Road followed from water logging due to a small outlet for water . There were several cases of walls and trees collapse in Pashan. Deputy commissioner of zone III,Dhnyaneshwar Chavan said,“Upon receiving information about the damages,our teams rushed to the spot. The traffic on the Pashan Road was a major hindrance in access to the affected area.”