Traffic struggled to move on almost every street. Signals stopped working, many vehicles went partly or wholly underwater and some were toppled by the surging waters. With the Ganesh season beginning on Wednesday, those on their way to buy idols were stuck in traffic.
For once, waterlogging happened across the city: at Pune Camp, Wanowrie, Kondhwa, Mundhwa, Bibwewadi, the Peths areas, Deccan, Aundh, Khadki, Hinjewadi, Pimpri, Chinchwad, Dapodi and Bhosari.
“The water was up to our knees and many of our belongings were ruined,” said Pradeep Lokhande of Tadiwala Road.
At Yerwada, water entered the ground floor at all flats but no civic department came to the residents’ aid. “We are marooned here. It looks like a river. Since 6 pm, when the downpour started, no one has come — fire brigade, PMC officials, PWD officials, or traffic policemen. Most of the residents here are elderly people, who are struggling to move their belongings to the first floor,” said Malcolm Noronha at Yerwada.
Power failed in many parts. With seven-hour loadshedding already in place, the rain-enforced blackout left some citizens without power for nearly 10 hours at a stretch. Telephone connections were also snapped because of damaged underground cables.
The rain had nothing to do with the southwest monsoon or monsoon currents. What happened was convective rains.
“This is actually an indication that the monsoon is weak,” said Medha Khole, director, IMD (weather). “Some circulation over Karnataka and southerly winds from the Arabian Sea are creating a moisture incursion that caused the present rain,” Khole said. Such rain occurs every season and it is not abnormal, she said.
“The situation will prevail for two-three days and heavy thundershowers are likely in the afternoons,” she added.
Loadshedding relief today
Wednesday will bring some relief in loadshedding. The reduction will be up to three hours 15 minutes in areas of group A (Shivajinagar and Kothrud divisions), three hours 45 minutes in areas of group B (Rasta Peth division) and four hours 15 minutes in areas of group C (Pune Nagar Road division and Pimpri). The power available for Thursday is 7000-8000 MW, 2000-3000 MW short of the demand.