Pune: An exceptionally intense spell of rain battered large parts of the state in the 24 hours ending Monday morning, triggering widespread damage and snapping road and transport networks in western Maharashtra. The death toll in rain-related incidents rose to 13 during the period.A major landslide shut down the Missing Link route on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway on Monday, with traffic to Mumbai returning to normal nearly 18 hours after the incident.The downpour was especially severe in the Sahyadris, where several hill stations and ghat stations recorded extreme rainfall in the range of 500mm to above 600mm. Lonavla Office topped the list with 670mm, followed by Bhira (609mm), Tamhini (580mm), Shirgaon (540mm), Ambone (537mm), Khopoli (516mm) and Mahabaleshwar (510mm).Traffic on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway and the old Mumbai-Pune Highway was severely disrupted after landslides and continuous heavy rain, with citizens urged not to travel between Pune and Mumbai unless essential. A major landslide in the Missing Link project area on the expressway around 4am led to the accumulation of about 100 tonnes of debris, of which around 70 tonnes was cleared later in the day.Three lanes towards Pune were opened late in the afternoon, while two-lane at Tunnel No. 2 was opened at 10.15pm. Rail services on the Mumbai-Pune route were affected after a landslide at Tunnel No. 40, leading to cancellations and diversions of trains. All Pune-Mumbai intercity trains have been cancelled for Tuesday, a Railway official said.Mumbai witnessed widespread heavy rain, with Ram Mandir recording 221.5mm in the 24 hours ending 8.30am Monday, followed by Vikhroli (199mm), Santacruz (159.2mm), Vidyavihar (132mm), Byculla (126mm), Sion (124.5mm), Bandra (119mm) and Colaba (111mm).Pune too saw heavy rain, with Lohegaon recording 146.8mm, Pashan 113mm and Shivajinagar 108.4mm during the same period. “The Shivajinagar figure was among the highest 24-hour July rainfall in the city’s recorded history, behind 130.4mm in 1958, 117.9mm in 1967 and 114.1mm in 2024. Chinchwad received another 90mm in just three hours between 8.30am and 11.30am,” an expert from the Vagaries of Weather blog said.Rain-related deaths were reported from multiple districts. The incidents included a building collapse in Mankhurd that killed six people, a landslide in Satara that claimed one life and injured four others, a retaining wall collapse in Pune that killed one person and injured another, two fatalities caused by falling trees in Mumbai suburbs, and separate drowning incidents in Palghar, Thane, Raigad and Sindhudurg. Officials said 10 people were injured, while 62 kutcha and three pucca houses were partially damaged and four kutcha houses completely damaged. In Pune district, landslides and slope failures kept emergency teams busy through the day. A landslide hit a house in Patan village in Maval taluka early Sunday morning. The Patan landslide site was not identified as landslide-prone in the Geological Survey of India’s assessment, Pune collector Jitendra Dudi said. He attributed the incident to intense rainfall over the past few days and said extreme weather in hilly terrain can trigger unpredictable landslides. Monitoring has been intensified in vulnerable talukas, including Maval, Mulshi, Bhor, Khed and Ambegaon. Dudi said tourist spots and forts in ghat areas will be closed and Section 163 (prohibitory orders in urgent situations) of the BNSS invoked only during IMD orange or red alerts, not yellow alerts.Another landslide in Pune blocked traffic after a concrete pillar collapsed on a lane, while a separate landslide left an estimated four to five people trapped, prompting NDRF action. Sinhagad Fort was closed to tourists as a precaution against further landslides. Flood rescue operations were undertaken at several locations. In Alandi, 24 people, including 20 police personnel, were rescued from Kendre Maharaj Math after floodwaters entered the premises. Rescue teams also evacuated 20-25 workers stranded at a company near Chakan-Chimbli Phata, students stranded at Vedant College in Lonavla, passengers from a bus stuck in floodwaters near Ghoravadi railway station, and residents affected by flooding at Jambhe village, Kasarsai and Mantra 24 West Society. The teams also responded to other emergencies, rescuing two young girls trapped inside a flat in Dhayari, clearing a fallen tree that had blocked traffic in Dhanore village near Alandi, and attending to a gas leak at a residential society in Nanded City. The heavy rain also swelled reservoirs and irrigation tanks, leading to repeated discharge warnings. Lonavala Dam reached 100% capacity and began releasing water through its uncontrolled spillway into the Indrayani river. The Malvandi Thule Minor Irrigation Tank also touched full capacity and started uncontrolled discharge into the Kothurne stream, while the Jadhavwadi Minor Irrigation Tank, which was also full, was warned to discharge into the Indrayani river via the Sudha river at any moment. Warkaris and devotees heading for Dehu and Alandi for the Palkhi were also urged not to enter the Indrayani riverbed. In Alandi, all four bridges were submerged, making entry unsafe, and devotees already on the way were asked to stay where they were. Traffic through Varandha Ghat was halted after landslides were reported at least five spots on the stretch between Varvand and Umbarde villages late on Sunday night. Dudi issued an order closing the Varandha Ghat road until Aug 31 as a precautionary measure to avert accidents caused by potential landslides resulting from heavy rainfall during the season along the route connecting Rajewadi to Varandha (on National Highway 965 DD, Bhor-Mahad). The order specifies that traffic should be diverted via alternative routes: the Mangaon-Nizampur-Tamhini Ghat-Mulshi-Pirangut-Pune route for travel towards Pune, and the Rajewadi Phata-Poladpur-Mahabaleshwar-Wai-Surur-Satara-Karad-Kolhapur or Rajewadi Phata-Poladpur-Khed-Chiplun-Patan-Karad-Kolhapur routes for travel towards Kolhapur.Meanwhile, the Mulshi Apatti Vyavasthan Samiti and PMRDA rescued 27 people including a 2-month-old baby, on Monday after they were stuck in their houses at Jambe village in Mulshi taluka. The samiti’s team led by Pramod Balkawade used motorboats to reach the houses of the people and rescue them.
