19 August,2025 10:22 PM IST | Pune | Archana Dahiwal
Pavana River in Thergaon overflows after water was released from the dam. PIC/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
Two days of incessant heavy rainfall have raised alarms of flooding with the city's five major dams nearing full capacity. The incessant rainfall also disrupted air and road connectivity, causing widespread inconvenience to hundreds of passengers.
On Tuesday, heavy rain lashed Pune and continued throughout the day, leading to severe waterlogging and traffic snarls. The Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad municipal corporations had made preparations to tackle flood-like situations.
Shekhar Singh, commissioner of the Pimpri Chinchwad Municipal Corporation, said, "The water discharge from Pavana Dam started in the morning itself. Around 5000 cusecs of water were released in the morning. Necessary arrangements were made to tackle any emergency."
The district administration stated that all the dams in Pune district were close to full capacity. The Khadakwasla Dam released 4356 cusecs of water into the Mutha River on Tuesday morning after water levels rose sharply, and 11,000 cusecs were released in the afternoon. Currently, Pune's five major dams - Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon, Temghar, and Pavana - are at 97 per cent capacity. While this ensures that the city will not face water shortages, it has increased the risk of flooding.
Meanwhile, the rains also disrupted air and road traffic over the past two days.
Flights hit
Flight operations at Pune airport were hit due to poor visibility and adverse weather. An IndiGo flight (6E-5387) from Delhi, scheduled to land at 1.20 pm on Monday, had to be diverted to Hyderabad. Departures also faced major delays: IndiGo's Pune-Delhi service (6E-2285) departed at 4.35 pm instead of 2.05 pm, the Pune-Jalgaon flight (IC-5606) was delayed by nearly two hours, while SpiceJet's Pune-Jaipur service (SG-1080) took off late at night instead of its scheduled 5.30 pm slot.
Public transport
On the roads, heavy rainfall and congestion slowed down Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation's (MSRTC) Shivneri bus service on the Pune-Mumbai route. Buses arriving from Mumbai were delayed by nearly an hour, while the expressway witnessed traffic snarls throughout the day.
Sharing her experience, commuter Sangita Vaidya said, "I boarded a Shivneri bus from Swargate to Dadar. It took 10 hours to reach." Another passenger, Anil Kulkarni, a daily commuter from Chinchwad to CST, said he chose to work from home to avoid the travel chaos.
Railway officials, however, confirmed that train schedules remained unaffected. Pune airport authorities also clarified that while morning operations were disrupted on Tuesday, flights resumed normally later in the day as rainfall intensity reduced in the airport area.
Adding to concerns, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Pune, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over the next 24 hours. Authorities have urged citizens to avoid unnecessary travel, stay away from riverbanks and dam areas, and remain alert.
