Pune rains kill 15 in wall collapse, 3 dead in Mumbai; heavy downpour expected to abate by Sunday, says IMD

The first spell of heavy rainfall in Maharashtra's prime cities, Pune and Mumbai wreaked havoc causing the deaths of 15 people in the former while killing three others in the latter. The countless reports of water-logging and traffic snarls is just business as usual for the Maximum city like any other year's monsoon season. This, while weatherman predict intermittent spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours as well.

Three persons were killed and five injured in rain-related incidents on Friday in Mumbai, which was lashed by the first spell of heavy rains this monsoon.

At least 15 people, including four children were killed as a portion of the compound wall of a residential complex collapsed on shanties in Pune. ANI

Three of a family were electrocuted, while two others were injured in two separate incidents in the western suburbs, a spokesperson of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said.

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According to the civic official, the deceased were identified as Kashima Yudiyar (60), Rajendra Yadav (60) and Sanjay Yadav (24) — both from Goregaon (East). Two others suffered injuries in the Goregaon incident and were admitted to a local hospital. Three persons were injured when a portion of a wall collapsed in Dadar (East), a police official said, adding that they were admitted to the civic-run KEM Hospital.

In Pune, at least 15 people were killed, three other injured as a portion of the compound wall of a residential complex collapsed on shanties following incessant rains. The shanties were built for the labourers working at a construction site nearby. The compound wall collapsed around 1.45 am Friday night in the Kondhawa area, an official said.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expresses condolences to kin of deceased in Pune wall collapse incident and said that an enquiry has been ordered into the incident.

Pune received its entire monthly average worth of rains between Thursday and Friday alone. Pune received 73.1 millimetres of rain in the past 24 hours, the second highest rainfall in June since 2010. Total rainfall for June currently stands at 134.3 mm, IMD said.

"The average rainfall for Pune for the month of June is 137 mm. Till 8:30 am on Friday, the city had received 134.3 mm rainfall. Between 8:30 am to 5:30pm, rainfall recorded was 25.3 mm. The average rainfall for June has been surpassed," said Anupam Kashyapi, head, weather department, IMD.

Kashyapi said the intensity of rain will decrease partially on Saturday. He added that heavy to very heavy rain is expected in Konkan region and neighbouring Goa till 2 July and widespread rainfall in central Maharashtra and Marathwada.

Vidarbha will get light to moderate rain till 1 July, Kashyapi said.

For Mumbai, the weathermen have predicted intermittent spells of heavy to very heavy rainfall. The Weather Channel reported that heavy to very heavy rain and thunderstorms are likely over coastal Maharashtra, Goa and Gujarat on Saturday. A total of 60 to 110 mm of rainfall accumulation is possible over coastal Maharashtra, including Mumbai, and Goa.

"The current conditions of heavy rain are likely to continue but the intensity of rainfall shall wear off by Sunday, after which only moderate spells will be seen. The pressure gradiant near the coast has picked up and we are currently experiencing high wind speeds," The Indian Express quoted a weather scientist as saying.

Doppler weather radars (DWR) indicated strong westerlies (winds blowing from east toward west) at a speed of around 15 to 18 km/hr, the newspaper reported.

In the last 24 hours, the Maximum City has already received 127 mm rainfall, the western suburbs received 170 mm rainfall and eastern suburbs received 197 mm rainfall, according to Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation. Responding to the reports of waterlogging, the BMC said pumping out water will take time because of high tide in the Arabian Sea.

High tide is a natural phenomenon during which the sea level rises and if the timings of rain and high tide coincide, then waterlogging aggravates in Mumbai. The BMC appealed to the citizens to avoid driving in the waterlogged areas. For today, the neap tide is expected to hit coast at around 9.42 am and 9.04 pm. According to Skymet, the tide timings would add on to the waterlogging at places that are close to the coastline or the shore.

This was Mumbai's most delayed monsoon in the last 45 years. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) sources, the most-delayed monsoon was in 1974 when it had arrived on June 28. Before that, the arrival of monsoon was delayed twice — on June 28 in 1958 and on June 26 in 1959.

The normal date for the arrival of monsoon over Mumbai is June 10.

With inputs from agencies