Red alert issued for Pune ghat areas on July 31

The department has advised people travelling through the Pune Ghat sections, including routes prone to landslides and waterlogging, to exercise caution as intense rainfall could trigger landslides, flash floods, reduced visibility, overflowing streams, and traffic disruptions.

Pune: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for the ghat areas of Pune district for July 31, warning of heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places. The warning excludes Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad city areas.

The department has advised people travelling through the Pune Ghat sections, including routes prone to landslides and waterlogging, to exercise caution as intense rainfall could trigger landslides, flash floods, reduced visibility, overflowing streams, and traffic disruptions. (HT file)

SD Sanap, senior meteorologist, IMD Pune, said, “The red alert has been issued only for the ghat areas of Pune district. Pune city is likely to receive light to moderate rainfall.”

The department has advised people travelling through the Pune Ghat sections, including routes prone to landslides and waterlogging, to exercise caution as intense rainfall could trigger landslides, flash floods, reduced visibility, overflowing streams, and traffic disruptions.

According to the bulletin issued by the weather department on July 30, isolated extremely heavy rainfall is likely over parts of central Maharashtra on July 31 under the influence of a deep depression over west-central Chhattisgarh and adjoining parts of Vidarbha and southeast Madhya Pradesh. The system is expected to move west-northwestwards across Vidarbha and adjoining south Madhya Pradesh while gradually weakening. However, its interaction with an active monsoon trough, an east-west shear zone across central India, and an offshore trough extending from south Gujarat to north Kerala is expected to keep rainfall activity vigorous over western Maharashtra, particularly along the ghat regions.

The IMD’s colour-coded warning map for July 31 shows that while Pune Ghat is the only area in Maharashtra under a red alert, several districts in north Maharashtra have been placed under an orange alert. These include the ghat areas of Nashik and the districts of Dhule, Nandurbar, Jalgaon and Ahilyanagar, where heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places is likely. Yellow alerts have been issued for some districts across Marathwada and Vidarbha, indicating the possibility of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning, gusty winds, and moderate rainfall at isolated places.

Sanap said the weather system is likely to weaken gradually over the next 24 hours, resulting in a reduction in rainfall activity across Maharashtra.