Maharashtra: 4 swept away in flooded stream after heavy rain in Pune

Four people have been swept away by a swollen stream at Pune in Maharashtra following heavy rain in the district, police said on Thursday.

Besides, a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been rushed to a village in Mohol tehsil of neighbouring Solapur district where a flood-like situation arose, an official said.

Pune and its neighbouring Solapur and Kolhapur districts experienced heavy rainfall on Wednesday, causing inundation in some low-lying areas.

In Pune's Khanota village, four people travelling on two motorcycles tried to cross a swollen stream on Wednesday evening, but got swept away by the water, an official from Daund police station said.

"We recovered three bodies on Thursday morning and search is one for the fourth person," he said.

Several low-lying areas in Pune experienced water- logging on Wednesday night after heavy showers.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the city received 96 mm rainfall on Wednesday.

The IMD has predicted moderate rainfall with isolated heavy showers coupled with thunderstorm in Pune and neighbouring areas in the next couple of days.

A fire brigade official said they received 35 to 40 calls of water-logging and tree fall from different parts of Pune city.

"Several societies in low-lying areas experienced water-logging," he said.

In Solapur, a team of the NDRF has been sent to evacuate people stranded in a village in Mohol tehsil where flood-like situation arose, an official from the disaster response force said.

Traffic on the Pune-Solapur Highway was disrupted for more than an hour on Wednesday evening after parts of the road were flooded due to incessant rains. The vehicular movement later resumed after the water receded.

An official from neighbouring Solapur said the district received 79 mm rainfall on Wednesday.

Six people were killed after a wall on the banks of the Chandrabhaga river in Pandharpur town of Solapur collapsed on Wednesday.

Besides, Kolhapur received 56 mm rainfall in the last 24 hours, an official from the district disaster cell said.

"Though there has been heavy rain in the last 24 hours, there is no need to panic as the level of the Panchganga river in Kolhapur is at 17.9 feet, which is way below the warning level," he said.

The official said some small streams and rivulets were swollen due to the heavy showers, but no road was closed for vehicular movement.