Relentless rain wreaks havoc in Pune: 4,000 evacuated; schools closed
100,000 cusecs of water released from dams floods several areas in city
At least 4,000 people of 650 families have been evacuated in Pune after 100,000 cusecs of water was released from dams in the district on August 4, flooding low-lying areas in the city.
In the last 36 hours, the city received 58.8 mm of rainfall as a result of which the Mula-Mutha river, that flows along a 22-km stretch through Pune, as well as the Pavana and Indrayani rivers, that flow through Pimpri-Chinchwad, were all above the safe limit.
Unprecendented release of dam water caused water-logging in Chikhali, Wakad, Sangvi, Aundh, Dattawadi, Erandwane, Mangalwar peth, Kasba peth and Somwar peth.
“Overflowing waters of the Mula-Mutha entered many houses on the banks of the river. However, with the help of the fire brigade and National Disaster Relief Force (NDRF) teams we have succeeded in evacuating 4,000 people to safer locations for the time being,” district collector Naval Kishore Ram said.
Those evacuated have been moved to PMC schools, temples and civic halls across the city.
Surya Hospital for mother and child care in Pimpri not only flooded, also led experienced power cut and destruction of equipment.
Dr Sachin Shah, director of the Hospital said, “As many as 200 people were rescued from the hospital who were stuck with us due to heavy rains on Sunday.”
Of the 200, 120 were staff and relatives, the rest were patients. At least 70 per cent of the patients are paediatric cases.
All the patients were rushed to five hospitals located on the highway, including Unique, Lifepoint and Lokmanya.
The collector said that besides the Mula-Mutha, the Pavana, Bhima and Nira rivers were also in spate and that there was a possibility of more water being released from adjoining dams as catchment areas continued to see heavy rains on Sunday evening.
The district administration has issued an advisory asking people to remain alert and has ordered schools and colleges to be closed on Monday.
Three NDRF teams have been deployed for rescue and relief work.
Two from Pune drown in waterfall
Satara: Two men from Pune, who went for a picnic along with four others, drowned in a waterfall near Koyna after their car met with an accident early on Sunday morning, a police officer said.
According to Mahesh Bhavikatti, an officer at the Koynanagar Police Station, the incident occurred at 1 am, when the six friends left from Koyna for Pune in two separate vehicles.
“There is a bridge enroute near the Babhalnala falls preceded by a dangerous turn on the road. Preliminary investigations show that the car with two occupants dashed into the barricade on the bridge and fell into the gushing river below,” Bhavikatti told IANS from the site.
There are massive boulders below the bridge -- some of them bigger than trucks -- which made the fall fatal and as water rushed into the car, they apparently could not escape.
The victims have been identified as Nitin Shelar (37) and Vaishakh Nambiar (38).
The body of one of the victims was recovered from the rocky river bed and efforts are on to retrieve the other victim stuck several metres below, even as extremely heavy rains hamper the operations, Bhavikatti said.
Their four friends, who had gone ahead, returned to look for them and are present at the accident site, the officer added. Agencies
Boy killed, sister injured in wall collapse
A 10-year-old boy was killed and his younger sister injured on Sunday morning after a wall of their house collapsed in Lonavala, around 90 kilometres from Pune, police said.
The incident happened at around 7:30am when deceased Kunal Ajay Dodke and his 9-year-old sister Nandini were asleep in their house while their father was away, the official said.
He said the wall collapse might have been caused by heavy rains the area has been witnessing over the past couple of days.