26-05-2025
Monsoon arrives in Pune a fortnight ahead; heavy rainfall leads to flooding in areas including Baramati, Indapur
Monsoon arrived in Pune Monday, almost 14 days before its normal date of onset — one of the earliest the city has seen — as the heavy rain affected traffic on the Pune-Mumbai highway, besides several other parts of the city.
Following this, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has stated that conditions are now conducive for the advancement of the monsoon in the rest of Maharashtra. Meanwhile, incessant rainfall led to flooding in several areas in Pune over the weekend, including Baramati, Indapur, and Daund.
Monsoon arrived in Kerala on May 24, Saturday, the earliest onset seen in the state since 2009. A day later, Maharashtra witnessed advanced onset of the Southwest Monsoon, ten days before the usual date of June 5. This is also the earliest onset of monsoon that Mumbai has seen in 35 years. This time, the monsoon current has been exceptionally strong, covering several areas well in advance.
While Lonavala recorded 236 mm of rainfall in 24 hours, another Automatic Weather Station (AWS) in Kurvande reported 184.5 mm. Daund saw 114 mm of rainfall and Shivajinagar reported 23 mm, while Baramati recorded 53 mm during the period. In the last three days, Baramati received a total of 194.8 mm of rainfall, followed by Bhigwan in Indapur taluka which received 136.4 mm. The village of Sansar in Indapur has seen 194 mm of rainfall in the last three days.
Twenty-one revenue mandals in the district reported more than 65 mm of rainfall, while 14 villages in Baramati and Indapur went under water due to a breach in the Khadakwasla Left Canal. The Pune-Solapur highway was closed to traffic for an hour following inundation on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the IMD issued a 'red' alert for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and Ratnagiri districts on Monday afternoon. The alert will remain in place until Tuesday morning. As per the weather department, Mumbai and neighbouring districts will experience 'extremely heavy rainfall and thunderstorms with lightning and gusty winds at isolated places.'
Several parts of South Mumbai (Island City division) received over 200 mm of rainfall on Monday, including Nariman Point station (252 mm), Byculla E ward office (213 mm), and Colaba (207 mm). Traffic congestion and waterlogging were also reported at multiple locations in the city.
Partha Sarathi Biwas is an Assistant Editor with The Indian Express with 10+ years of experience in reporting on Agriculture, Commodities and Developmental issues. He has been with The Indian Express since 2011 and earlier worked with DNA. Partha's report about Farmers Producer Companies (FPC) as well long pieces on various agricultural issues have been cited by various academic publications including those published by the Government of India. He is often invited as a visiting faculty to various schools of journalism to talk about development journalism and rural reporting. In his spare time Partha trains for marathons and has participated in multiple marathons and half marathons. ... Read More
