Heavy rains lashed Pune on Thursday, claiming 17 lives so far in various incidents of flooding and wall collapse even as authorities and NDRF personnel worked round the clock to evacuate 16,000 people from water-logged areas. Five persons have been reported missing. Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis condoled the loss of lives due to the intense rainfall and assured that all necessary assistance was being provided in the affected areas. Fadnavis further said teams of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have been deployed in the city and Baramati tehsil. "My deepest condolences to the families. We are providing all possible assistance needed. State disaster management officials and control room in continuous touch with Pune collector and Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC)," Fadnavis said in a tweet. "Two NDRF teams are deployed in Pune and two in Baramati. One more NDRF team is on way to Baramati. The state government is also closely monitoring the dam discharge," Fadnavis said. In view of the deluge, schools and colleges in various tehsils of Pune declared a holiday. Follow highlights Five people sleeping at a dargah in Khed-Shivapur village, located on the Mumbai-Bengaluru National Highway, were swept away after heavy rain battered the region, PTI quoted Superintendent of Police Sandip Patil as saying. "Over 15,000 people from low-lying areas in Baramati were shifted to safer places after water was released from Nazare dam, built on the Karha river near Jejuri," Patil said. Five people lost their lives after a wall collapsed in the flooded Aranyeshwar area, including a nine-year-old boy, PTI quoted chief fire officer Prashant Ranpise as saying. Earlier in the day, a person's body was recovered from a nallah near Rajeja Garden Society in Pune. The brother of the deceased, Golu Kumar said last night heavy rain washed away their house at Somjee. "What will I tell my brothers' children now," asked Golu. More than 500 people stranded in low-lying areas of the city were also rescued, PTI quoted Ranpise as saying, while another 300 people were rescued by the Army from Solapur road area. "Rain stopped on Thursday morning, but many houses and residential societies in low-lying areas were still inundated. There were several reports of wall collapse and uprooting of trees in those places," PTI quoted another official as saying. Meanwhile, several vehicles were also swept away in the floodwaters, the official said. Water-logging was also reported in Sinhgad Road, Dhanakwadi, Balajinagar, Ambegaon, Sahakar Nagar, Parvati, Kolhewadi and Kirkatwadi, Ranpise said.
