Pune, June 22: Heavy rains lashed Pune and Western Maharashtra with a revival of the monsoon that marked a wet Sunday and disrupted long distance Mumbai bound trains. It poured the whole day with MET department registering 34. 5 mm rainfall in the city and suburbs till 8. 30 pm last night as the fire brigade reported distress calls mainly involving uprooting of tress in different parts.
Unlike Konkan, Vidarbha and parts of Marathwada, the Western Maharashtra witnessed a late onset of the monsoon following widespread rains reported from Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli districts. The catchment areas of four city dams—- Varasgaon, Panshet, Pavna and Khadakwasla— too registered a good rainfall, the weather office said. The vigorous monsoon activity is expected continue in the next two days, it added. [Mumbai Pune Expressway landslide: Traffic comes to a halt (Video)]
Six long distance trains plying between Pune and Mumbai were cancelled yesterday due to heavy rains while some others were rescheduled, central railway officials said adding that the train traffic was expected to normalize in next 48 hours. Meanwhile, Mumbai-bound vehicular traffic was affected after a landslide this morning near Khandala ghat blocked the Express Highway connecting the two cities. The traffic was later diverted via the old highway route and debris clearance was underway. There was no casualty in the landslide.
