Monsoon arrives in Pune, but so do civic problems

Even though rains arrived at least 14 days behind schedule, it made an impact the very first day with heavy downpour, waterlogging and traffic jams

Southwest monsoon has finally arrived in the city on Monday, 14 days behind normal schedule.

Due to heavy downpour on Monday, vehicles had to switch on their headlights for better visibility (as seen in picture) near Wadia College. Visibility had decreased because of the short, intense rainfall. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

Even though the rains, which lasted almost an hour, provided the much-needed respite from heat, it also wreaked havoc across the city.

The city recorded 4.1mm of rainfall in the afternoon on Monday. Lohegaon recorded 63.8mm of rainfall However, when the civic body’s preparation for the monsoon was put to the test, it failed.

Most parts of the city like Sancheti chowk and Balgandharva area witnessed waterlogging which led to major traffic jam in Deccan.

Prominent city roads like Tilak road, Regional Transport Office chowk, Karve road, Satara road, Sinhagad road and Paud road also witnessed traffic chaos.

Mahesh Mukadam, a commuter on Paud-Karve road said that the construction work for the metro occupied a major portion of this road and hence, the traffic snarl led to difficulties while commuting.

With monsoon greeting the city on Monday, residents were seen using umbrellas and raincoats to prevent themselves from getting drenched. (Ravindra Joshi/HT PHOTO)

According to the fire brigade department, four incidents of tree falling were reported in Hadapsar, Wadgaon sheri, Sahakarnagar and Shahunagar.

Prashant Ranpise, chief fire officer, Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), said, “One waterlogging incident was reported from a restaurant near Boat Club road. We immediately sent our rescue team to the spot. Our department has taken all the necessary precautions to save the life of the people.”

The roads from Hinjewadi to Wakad and Hinjewadi to Dange chowk saw traffic moving at a slow pace due to waterlogging at Shivaji chowk.

Traffic jams were also reported near Chandani chowk. Chanderi Bhalerao, a software company employee, complained about heavy traffic at Wakad chowk and Chandani chowk.

“Traffic had come to a complete standstill. I had to cancel my cab booking because we were unable to move,” Bhalero added. Many residents took to social media to complain about how the first rains revealed that the infrastructure of the Hinjewadi Information Technology (IT) Park was not able to handle monsoons.

Civic issues also came to the fore, with waterlogging reported from various areas, including Rakshanagar in Kharadi (seen in picture). Several traffic jams were also reported on Monday. (Shankar Narayan/HT PHOTO)

The city witnessed a slight increase in the maximum temperature at 33.1 degrees Celsius as compared to Sunday which was 31 degrees Celsius.

According to the India Meteorology Department (IMD), the southwest monsoon has arrived in more than 90 per cent of Maharashtra and is likely to cover the entire state in the next four to five days.

“The remaining seven to eight per cent area in the state comprises Mumbai, northern part of Konkan and extreme northern part of central Maharashtra, which will be covered within 48 hours,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of India Meteorology Department’s climate department. He said since the monsoon is active, widespread rain is likely in Konkan and neighbouring Goa.