Monsoon makes simultaneous entry into Pune, Mumbai; 5 dead in Maharashtra | Pune News

PUNE/KOLHAPUR/CHHATRAPATI SAMBHAJINAGAR/NASHIK: Southwest monsoon on Monday made a simultaneous entry into Pune, Mumbai, Solapur and other parts of Maharashtra, a day after entering the state in what marked the earliest monsoon onset after 1990 when it had arrived on May 20. Five rain-related deaths — three from Pune district and two from Latur — were reported in the past 24 hours.The normal date for monsoon onset is June 10 for Pune and June 11 for Mumbai. This time, it was 15-16 days ahead of schedule for the two cities. Mumbai recorded its earliest arrival of southwest monsoon in 76 years. “According to historical data maintained by IMD, the last time Mumbai witnessed such an early monsoon onset was in 1971 when it arrived on May 29,” said SD Sanap, scientist, IMD, Pune. Substantial rainfall was reported from various parts of the state during the 24 hours ending Monday morning with Konkan and Goa bearing the brunt of the initial monsoon surge. Murud in Raigad district recorded the highest precipitation at 370mm, followed by Harnai IMD observatory in Ratnagiri and Shrivardhan at 310mm each, Mhasla 300mm and Mandangad (210mm). The popular hill station of Lonavla recorded 240mm of rain, while Matheran in Raigad district received 180mm in the 24 hours ending Monday morning.IMD has sounded a red alert (extremely heavy rainfall, accompanied by thunderstorms, lightning and gusty winds) for Kolhapur district on Tuesday and an orange alert (moderate to heavy rain with heavy to very heavy rainfall at isolated places in the ghat areas) for Pune. IMD observatories across Pune city recorded rainfall in the range of 20mm and 41mm between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Monday.Three people died in separate rain-related incidents in Pune district on Monday. A 49-year-old motorcyclist died on the spot after a tree fell on him on Samarth Path in Erandwane in the city around 7.15pm. A 75-year-old woman florist died around 11.30am after a portion of an old building caved-in on her shop in Daund, which received 114mm rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30am. Intermittent showers continued in the area for the better part of Monday. A 26-year-old daily wage earner, who was hired for fishing work at Pait village near Rajgurunagar, died after lightning struck him around 2.30am. In Latur district, two people died and six others were injured as lightning struck them while they were working in a farm at Mauje Gothala village in Ahmedpur taluka around 6.30pm.At Phaltan in Satara district, the administration had to shift 150 families to safer places amid flooding caused by an overflowing Banganga River amid incessant rain for the last two days. At least 800 hectares of upper strata of farmland have been washed away. As against 24mm average rainfall for May, Phaltan received 350mm in the past three days. A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team has been called to provide relief and rescue in the affected areas. Another NDRF team rescued six people, including two women and a child, trapped in the floodwaters of Nira River at Kurabavi village of Malshiras tehsil around 3.30am. Three seers, who were trapped in a temple at Gursale village of Pandharpur in Solapur district, were rescued around 4am by a disaster management department team of Solapur.In Nashik, Sinnar and Dubere circles (cluster of a few villages) received very heavy rainfall — 150.3mm and 145.2mm, respectively. This caused damage to the standing crops and farmlands. A few houses fell too. “There has been no report of injury. The department has been asked to assess the losses in agriculture and other sectors,” said Sinnar tehsildar Surendra Desmukh. Resident deputy collector Rajendra Wagh said work of assessing damage to property in terms of houses and others as well as damage to standing crops was being carried out. In Marathwada, heavy rain in the catchment area led to an increase of inflows towards Jayakwadi major dam at 4,200 cubic foot per second (cusecs) by Monday afternoon. The dam was showing nearly 30% live storage. Jalna and Beed districts, and parts of the region, also reported substantial rain.On Monday, Kolhapur was under an orange alert, leading to intense downpour across the district. By 8am, seven of the 12 major dam catchments — Tulsi, Kasari, Chikotra, Kumbhi, Patgaon, Ghatprabha and Sarfnala — received over 90mm of rain in the preceding 24 hours. Rainfall in these areas slowed considerably in the subsequent eight hours, receiving less than 20mm by 5pm. Overall, Kolhapur received 45.4mm of rain on Monday.In Kolhapur, the rising water levels are already causing issues. The Panchaganga, for instance, reached 18.9ft by 6pm on Monday, an increase of 1.6ft in just eight hours. This led to 13 barrages across the district being submerged by the swollen waters of the Panchaganga, Kasari, Bhagawati, and the Dudhganga rivers.On Monday, the monsoon also progressed into Karnataka, including Bengaluru, remaining parts of Tamil Nadu and some parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, IMD said.