PUNE: After heavy downpour on Wednesday-Thursday night, there was a flood-like situation in many areas of Pune. Till Thursday morning, 12 bodies have been recovered by the fire brigade and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).
As a precautionary measure, Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram has declared holiday today (Thursday) in all schools, colleges located in Pune city, Haveli, Purandar, Bhor and Baramati talukas.
According to the district administration, six casualties happened in an incident due to collapse of a compound wall near Tangewala Aranyeshwar Colony, Sahakar Nagar. Almost 150 houses are damaged. This happened due to the sudden flow of water from upstream with full force. The reason for this sudden flow is not known. The compound wall collapsed on the road going towards these houses while 4 people might be trying to come out of water flow. Two bodies were recovered at downstream. A man was found dead in his car on Sinhgad road in Prayeja City area. Three persons died in rain-related incidents in Khed-Shivapur, about 25 km from Pune.
According to residents and police officials, many vehicles have been washed away and damaged. Pune traffic police have appealed people to be careful while driving.
“There’s a lot of mud on several stretches of Sinhgad road especially between Hingne and Santosh Hall. There are other roads in the city as well which have become risky due to mud. Two-wheeler riders to be careful while driving”, said DCP (traffic) Pankaj Deshmukh.
According to the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), three teams are deployed from 5 NDRF Pune for search and rescue operation. The teams deployed are at Katraj where a wall is collapsed. Another team is deployed near the PMC office in Shivajinagar. The third team is prepositioned at Baramati for flood rescue operation under command of Inspector Rajendra Patil.
Also, the Katraj tunnel on the Mumbai-Bangalore Highway (Katraj-Dehuroad bypass) which was closed for traffic due to landslide on Wednesday midnight, was opened for traffic movement in the early hours of Thursday.
