Pune/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Kolhapur/Nashik: Heavy showers since Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning claimed five more lives — three in Nanded and one each in Beed and Pune — though the intensity of rain reduced in most parts of the state. The fatalities took the death toll in the rain since May 19 in Maharashtra to 39.In Pune city, a 76-year-old woman died of head injuries after a Gulmohar tree fell amid heavy rain on an autorickshaw she was travelling in near Peshwe Garden, close to Saras Baug, around 3.30pm on Wednesday. Police identified her as Shubhada Sapre, who was returning to her home at Anandnagar on Sinhagad Road from Tilak Road. Auto driver Sanjay Bagu Awachare of Dhanori survived with injuries.On Tuesday evening, a 35-year-old woman, her daughter (8) and niece (7) drowned in an overflowing nullah at Warvat village in Hadgaon taluka of Nanded district. They were identified as Aruna Shakirage, daughter Durga and niece Sameeksha. Nanded disaster management officer Kishor Kurhe said, “The woman and the two girls were returning from a farm when a sudden intense downpour caused the local nullah to flood. They were swept away while attempting to cross it. The body of one girl was found near the nullah. The other two were later found dead about 7km away.”In Beed district, 37-year-old Dnyaneshwar Parade, a resident of Takalgavhan village in Georai taluka, was swept away by the surging Jambul river on Tuesday evening.Indian Army teams on Tuesday evening rescued 16 villagers trapped in the floods caused by an overflowing Walumba River at Khadki in Ahilyanagar district. The district administration had to seek help from the Army’s Armoured Corps Center and School in Ahilyanagar to conduct the rescue operation amid a worsening situation caused by the floods.At Ingali village in Hatkanangale tehsil of Kolhapur district, a protective wall of a water well, known as “Sahamot”, in front of a mosque collapsed early on Wednesday morning. The road adjacent to the well also caved in, putting the houses and the mosque in the area at risk. India Meteorological Department (IMD) locations at Chas ARG and Ahilyanagar city in Ahilyanagar district recorded 130mm and 70mm rainfall, respectively, in the 24 hours ending 8.30am Wednesday. “A weakening low-pressure system over Arabian Sea has reduced rainfall intensity over the state since Tuesday evening. Another system over the Bay of Bengal is expected to impact only the coastal belt of Maharashtra,” IMD Pune scientist SD Sanap told TOI.Rain continued to batter Latur and Jalna districts in Marathwada. Latur received 120mm of rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30am Wednesday. Thirty-five revenue circles reported heavy rainfall of over 65mm during the past 24 hours — ending Wednesday morning. This included a maximum of 17 circles in Jalna district, followed by five circles each in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur districts, four circles in Hingoli and three circles in Nanded.Tin roofs of around 60 homes at Jawkheda village at Bhokardan taluka of Jalna district were blown away by the heavy winds on Tuesday evening. In Latur, a makeshift diversion bridge on Renapur-Ashta road was washed away on Tuesday evening, leading to traffic diversion.An IMD official said many parts of Marathwada were likely to receive more rainfall for the next 48 hours, with some areas receiving a “yellow” alert with chances of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and light to moderate rainfall amid gusty winds.In the Madhya Maharashtra region, Gaganbawada in Kolhapur received 110mm of rain in 24 hours till Wednesday morning, followed by Radhanagari (70mm, also in Kolhapur) and Jat in Sangli district 60mm. In the coastal Konkan belt, Lanja in Ratnagiri and Vaibhavwadi in Sindhudurg district recorded 110mm and 100mm rain, respectively, while Devgad in Sindhudurg recorded 70mm.In Nashik, intense rainfall disrupted trading activities at Lasalgaon agriculture produce market committee, the country’s biggest wholesale onion market, on Wednesday morning. Wholesale onion rates at Lasalgaon saw a 20% increase _ reaching Rs1,375 per quintal from Saturday’s Rs1,150 per quintal. The rain-induced supply shortage contributed to this price surge.The intensity of rain in Kolhapur city and district dropped on Wednesday morning with a few on-and-off spells of showers throughout the day. The water level of the Panchaganga River on Wednesday evening was at 19.6ft at the Rajaram barrage in the Kasba Bawda area of Kolhapur city. The warning level is 39ft and danger mark 43ft. Eleven barrages in Kolhapur district continued to be inundated because of the swollen river. The district received 20mm of rainfall on Wednesday.Between 8.30am and 8.30pm on Wednesday,Colaba and Santacruz recorded 30mm and 35mm, respectively. Alibag in Raigad district recorded 39mm of rain. Malegaon and Solapur received 19mm each and Nashik 21mm. All prominent cities in the Marathwada region and 10 in the Vidarbha region did not log any rainfall during this period on Wednesday.Tourism impacted in Mahabaleshwar & wildlife sanctuary in KolhapurIncessant rain over the last one week has hit tourism at the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, which reported a 30% decline in hotel business following cancellation of bookings by travellers from Mumbai and Pune among other places. Mahabaleshwar logged 66mm of rain between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Wednesday, much less than the heavy downpour in the preceding two to three days.The rain also led to closure of Radhanagari-Dajipur wildlife sanctuary, at least a week early because of the muddy trails and forest paths. The sanctuary, known for gaur sightings, usually closes on June 1. The revered Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur city also reported fewer devotees.Pune/Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar/Kolhapur/Nashik: Heavy showers since Tuesday evening and Wednesday morning claimed five more lives — three in Nanded and one each in Beed and Pune — though the intensity of rain reduced in most parts of the state. The fatalities took the death toll in the rain since May 19 in Maharashtra to 39.In Pune city, a 76-year-old woman died of head injuries after a Gulmohar tree fell amid heavy rain on an autorickshaw she was travelling in near Peshwe Garden, close to Saras Baug, around 3.30pm on Wednesday. Police identified her as Shubhada Sapre, who was returning to her home at Anandnagar on Sinhagad Road from Tilak Road. Auto driver Sanjay Bagu Awachare of Dhanori survived with injuries.On Tuesday evening, a 35-year-old woman, her daughter (8) and niece (7) drowned in an overflowing nullah at Warvat village in Hadgaon taluka of Nanded district. They were identified as Aruna Shakirage, daughter Durga and niece Sameeksha. Nanded disaster management officer Kishor Kurhe said, “The woman and the two girls were returning from a farm when a sudden intense downpour caused the local nullah to flood. They were swept away while attempting to cross it. The body of one girl was found near the nullah. The other two were later found dead about 7km away.”In Beed district, 37-year-old Dnyaneshwar Parade, a resident of Takalgavhan village in Georai taluka, was swept away by the surging Jambul river on Tuesday evening.Indian Army teams on Tuesday evening rescued 16 villagers trapped in the floods caused by an overflowing Walumba River at Khadki in Ahilyanagar district. The district administration had to seek help from the Army’s Armoured Corps Center and School in Ahilyanagar to conduct the rescue operation amid a worsening situation caused by the floods.At Ingali village in Hatkanangale tehsil of Kolhapur district, a protective wall of a water well, known as “Sahamot”, in front of a mosque collapsed early on Wednesday morning. The road adjacent to the well also caved in, putting the houses and the mosque in the area at risk. India Meteorological Department (IMD) locations at Chas ARG and Ahilyanagar city in Ahilyanagar district recorded 130mm and 70mm rainfall, respectively, in the 24 hours ending 8.30am Wednesday. “A weakening low-pressure system over Arabian Sea has reduced rainfall intensity over the state since Tuesday evening. Another system over the Bay of Bengal is expected to impact only the coastal belt of Maharashtra,” IMD Pune scientist SD Sanap told TOI.Rain continued to batter Latur and Jalna districts in Marathwada. Latur received 120mm of rain in the 24 hours ending 8.30am Wednesday. Thirty-five revenue circles reported heavy rainfall of over 65mm during the past 24 hours — ending Wednesday morning. This included a maximum of 17 circles in Jalna district, followed by five circles each in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and Latur districts, four circles in Hingoli and three circles in Nanded.Tin roofs of around 60 homes at Jawkheda village at Bhokardan taluka of Jalna district were blown away by the heavy winds on Tuesday evening. In Latur, a makeshift diversion bridge on Renapur-Ashta road was washed away on Tuesday evening, leading to traffic diversion.An IMD official said many parts of Marathwada were likely to receive more rainfall for the next 48 hours, with some areas receiving a “yellow” alert with chances of thunderstorms accompanied by lightning and light to moderate rainfall amid gusty winds.In the Madhya Maharashtra region, Gaganbawada in Kolhapur received 110mm of rain in 24 hours till Wednesday morning, followed by Radhanagari (70mm, also in Kolhapur) and Jat in Sangli district 60mm. In the coastal Konkan belt, Lanja in Ratnagiri and Vaibhavwadi in Sindhudurg district recorded 110mm and 100mm rain, respectively, while Devgad in Sindhudurg recorded 70mm.In Nashik, intense rainfall disrupted trading activities at Lasalgaon agriculture produce market committee, the country’s biggest wholesale onion market, on Wednesday morning. Wholesale onion rates at Lasalgaon saw a 20% increase _ reaching Rs1,375 per quintal from Saturday’s Rs1,150 per quintal. The rain-induced supply shortage contributed to this price surge.The intensity of rain in Kolhapur city and district dropped on Wednesday morning with a few on-and-off spells of showers throughout the day. The water level of the Panchaganga River on Wednesday evening was at 19.6ft at the Rajaram barrage in the Kasba Bawda area of Kolhapur city. The warning level is 39ft and danger mark 43ft. Eleven barrages in Kolhapur district continued to be inundated because of the swollen river. The district received 20mm of rainfall on Wednesday.Between 8.30am and 8.30pm on Wednesday,Colaba and Santacruz recorded 30mm and 35mm, respectively. Alibag in Raigad district recorded 39mm of rain. Malegaon and Solapur received 19mm each and Nashik 21mm. All prominent cities in the Marathwada region and 10 in the Vidarbha region did not log any rainfall during this period on Wednesday.Tourism impacted in Mahabaleshwar & wildlife sanctuary in KolhapurIncessant rain over the last one week has hit tourism at the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, which reported a 30% decline in hotel business following cancellation of bookings by travellers from Mumbai and Pune among other places. Mahabaleshwar logged 66mm of rain between 8.30am and 5.30pm on Wednesday, much less than the heavy downpour in the preceding two to three days.The rain also led to closure of Radhanagari-Dajipur wildlife sanctuary, at least a week early because of the muddy trails and forest paths. The sanctuary, known for gaur sightings, usually closes on June 1. The revered Mahalaxmi temple in Kolhapur city also reported fewer devotees.
