Pune in Maharashtra witnessed waterlogging in several areas of the city on Saturday afternoon following a heavy spell of flooding. monsoon showers, PTI reported.
Streets were flooded in some areas, forcing people to walk through waist-deep water, according to PTI.
Traffic jams occurred in several places.
The fire department received at least 31 calls regarding incidents of falling trees, according to PTI.
Areas like Lohegaon, Dhanori, Kothrud, Deccan Gymkhana and Swargate suffered waterlogging.
According to the meteorological department, 67 mm of rain was recorded in the Shivaji Nagar area from morning to 5.30 pm, the news agency reported.
Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar who is also the guardian minister of the district spoke to the municipal commissioner and the district collector and examined the situation, officials said.
BMC tries to prevent repeat of Marine Drive flooding this monsoon
Meanwhile, after Marine Drive was flooded last year due to small rocks getting stuck in the stormwater outfall on Patan Jain Road, the coastal highways department reinstalled tetrapods around the outfall as per the directions of the stormwater department. (SWD). However, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) is not sure if this will prevent debris from entering the outfall during extremely high tides.
The city’s landscape changes every decade as more sea surface is reclaimed, leading to unusual situations such as the flooding of the section of Marine Drive between Churchgate and Marine Lines railway stations on 27 July 2023. As a result of the flooding, vehicle traffic was affected while Western Railway (WR) services were disrupted for over two hours.
A WR spokesperson at the time said drainage culverts were operating at half capacity and all manholes on the west side of the tracks to Marine Drive were overflowing. Later, the BMC issued a statement that small rocks that were swept away by powerful waves were trapped in the Patan Jain Road outfall. Although the outfall site is beyond the coastal highway construction limits, tetrapods were removed in and around the outfall for construction of the project’s seawall.
Learning from experience, the coastal highways department began reinstalling tetrapods from the southern side of the project for a few meters to the Marine Lines Police Gymkhana.
(with PTI inputs)