Some residents of Pune’s Mangalwar peth evacuated during Mon evening downpour

Parge chowk at Mangalwar peth in Pune was flooded during Mon evening downpour with firefighters even evacuating some residents

PUNE The torrential rain in a short-span of time on Monday evening crippled not just traffic at many places in the city, but saw water logging in various housing societies. This was accompanied by incidents of trees falling caused by the thunderstorm and lightning.

Two-wheeler rider and motorist seen during the evening downpour in Pune. Parge chowk at Mangalwar peth was flooded with firefighters even evacuating some residents. (HT)

Parge chowk in Mangalwar peth was flooded with firefighters even evacuating some residents from there.

Given the flash floods that have plagued Pune during the monsoon season in the recent past, a torrential downpour like the one on Monday evening always has Punekars worried.

“Water level started rising around our area. When I looked out of the window the water level was above three feet, and people were still walking on the road. Then firefighters asked us to vacate our houses till the rain stopped, which it did, thankfully,” said Renuka Mandhare a resident of Mangalwar peth.

The Pune Fire brigade received a total of 21 calls, of which 13 were about trees falling and waterlogging, all in different parts of the city.

“The calls came from areas like Mangalwar peth, Sadesatra Nali in Hadapsar, Vishrantwadi, Yerawada, Camp and also Pune railway station. There were no injuries or major damage of goods and vehicles. Our firefighters reached the spots quickly and rescued people. Fallen trees were also cleared,” said Prashant Ranpise, chief fire officer.

According to the Pune Municipal Corporation’s (PMC) fire brigade department, 12 incidents of trees falling were recorded on Monday. The heavy rain started at 6pm on Monday and the water level on roads quickly rose, while the underpass at the Pune railway station was partially submerged, with people having to wade through waist-high water to get to the road.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), between 5:30 pm and 8:30 pm on Monday, Shivajinagar reported 26.3 millimetres (mm) of rain, Chinchwad reported 2.5mm, whereas Lohegaon reported 23.4mm of rainfall.