Pre-monsoon showers lash city

PUNE: Heavy showers lashed the city for over an hour on Saturday evening, providing Puneites with much-needed relief from the sweltering heat. By 5.30 pm, the city had recorded 26 mm rainfall.
The rain led to water-logging in areas like Swargate, Deccan Gymkhana and Camp and the power supply was also affected in parts of the city till 7 pm.
"These are pre-monsoon showers.More such showers can be expected during the next couple of days," said an official of the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
"A trough/wind discontinuity from east Rajasthan to Lakshadweep area persists across west Madhya Pradesh, Marathwada, south central Maharashtra, north interior Karnataka and coastal Karnataka with an embedded cyclonic circulation over east Rajasthan and the neighbourhood. These weather conditions are leading to rainfall in the state," the officials said.
Cloudy conditions prevailed since late afternoon followed by thundershowers. Most parts of the city including Tilak Road, J M road, FC road, Kothrud, Satara road and Camp witnessed heavy showers that started around 4 pm and continued for around an hour. After that, the intensity of the showers reduced.
Many roads were flooded with the rainwater. Water-logging was reported in the lanes of Karve road, Tilak road, Swaragate, Deccan Gymkhana, Bajirao road, Ganesh Kala Krida Rangmanch area and Camp areas, slowing down traffic considerably. Traffic jams were reported from Tilak road, Jedhe chowk, Balgandharva Rangmandir chowk and Camp. The water drained out after half-an-hour.
The city fire brigade received 10 calls reporting uprooting of trees or falling of branches. Most of the calls came from the Peth areas. A rickshaw was damaged when a massive tree fell down near Apollo theatre in Rasta Peth. Tree-felling incidents were also reported from Gokhalenagar, Lalchawl slum. Vehicles were damaged after a tree fell on them in Bhonslenagar and North Main road in Koregaon Park.
Officials of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) said many parts of the city witnessed power interruptions due to the heavy rains accompanied by thundershowers. The areas affected included Shivajinagar, Rasta Peth, Prabhat Road, Kothrud and Khadki. Areas in Camp suffered power cuts lasting 15 minutes to two hours. Power supply was expected to normalise by late in the evening.
According to the traffic police, traffic was disrupted due to water-logging at Simla office chowk, Jedhe chowk, Sancheti hosptial chowk, Bajirao road and Nehru road near Bajaj statue. Traffic snarls were reported from Rajeev Gandhi bridge after a PMPML bus got stuck in traffic. "Though there were incidents of traffic disruption, there was no major traffic problem as the rains started early in the evening, when there were fewer people on the streets," an official said.
According to the IMD, showers are expected during the next two days in various parts of the state, including Pune. Chances of rainfall are likely in Marathwada, Vidarbha, Central Maharashtra and Konkan.
Other parts of the state also reported rainfall, including Parbhani and Mahabaleshwar, which experienced around 1 mm rainfall.