Pune: A sharp, intense spell of rain lasting nearly 2 hours on Thursday afternoon threw life out of gear across the city, dumping 84mm rain over NDA and 65mm in Shivajinagar, catching people off guard and triggering widespread waterlogging, traffic snarls and power outage.The sudden downpour turned fatal in the Parvati area, where a 60-year-old flower vendor, Ranjana Navnath Giri – resident of Ganeshmala off Sinhagad Road – died after a tree fell on her around 3.30pm near Navshya Maruti Mandir. Two others sustained minor injuries in the accident.Flight operations were hit, with an IndiGo Ahmedabad-Pune flight (6E-522) diverted to Goa. Several flights were delayed.Emergency teams were pressed into action across multiple locations as strong winds and heavy rain battered the city during peak afternoon hours, compounding traffic congestion and affecting power supply in several areas.The heavy downpour in NDA affected locations such as Pashan, Bavdhan and Kothrud.Thursday’s intense spell of rain pushed Shivajinagar into the record books, with the observatory logging its highest April rainfall in over a century.India Meteorological Department (IMD) data showed that Shivajinagar recorded 65mm rainfall in nearly 2 hours on Thursday, making it the highest April daily rainfall since 1896. The previous highest for April, as per IMD records, was 51.1 mm on April 4, 1896.“Thursday’s record-breaking April rainfall over Pune was driven by lower-level wind convergence, further enhanced by upper-level divergence ahead of an approaching southward-dipping western disturbance trough. This set-up promoted rapid uplift of warm air, while moisture incursion from the Arabian Sea provided the necessary fuel, resulting in intense convective activity,” said independent forecaster Abhijit Modak.Rainfall was intense in parts of the city and nearby areas, with NDA recording the highest at 84mm, followed by Shivajinagar (65mm) and Hadapsar (42.5mm). Areas such as Pashan (36.3mm), Dapodi (29mm) and Chinchwad (28.5mm) also received significant showers, indicating a fairly widespread weather event.Several parts of the city witnessed severe flooding, with visuals showing vehicles partially submerged on key roads and commuters struggling to navigate through knee-deep water. In some areas, motorists were seen pushing stalled cars as roads turned into streams within minutes of the sudden downpour.A boundary wall along Baner Road collapsed amid the spell, while traffic slowed significantly across multiple stretches because of waterlogging. A compound wall in Ravet and another in a housing society on NIBM Road collapsed.Power supply in many areas, including Kondhwa, Kothrud, Hadapsar and Dhayari, was also affected. The outage disrupted work during peak evening hours, while heavy traffic congestion was reported on the Solapur highway and Magarpatta Road.At Pune airport, flyers faced major issues getting cabs and pre-paid autorickshaws. Prakash Rajguru, an autorickshaw driver, said, “No autorickshaw was available at the airport as all were stuck in traffic in different places because of the rain.”Sources at AeroMall said cab movements were minimal because of the same reason.Cabs and autorickshaws in different parts of the city were unavailable. Emergency response teams were deployed across the city, with around 20 fire engines, two rescue vans and nearly 100 personnel engaged in clearing uprooted trees and handling related incidents.
