Palghar collector announces holiday for schools and colleges due to heavy rain

Meanwhile, Deputy CM Ajit Pawar has taken stock of the situation at Pune district headquarters after heavy rains lashed the district.

Pawar has also discussed relief measures with the District Collector and the District Disaster Management Chief. Authorities have been instructed to provide all necessary assistance to the affected people, especially in the Khadakwasla and Pimpri-Chinchwad areas, which are the worst affected due to heavy rain.

Additionally, due to continuous rainfall in Pune on Thursday, the catchment area of Khadakwasla Dam had reached its full capacity.

The Pune administration increased the speed and released the water into the Mutha River today at 6 a.m. at the rate of 40,000 cusecs, as per information from the District Information Office.

Earlier on Thursday, at 4 a.m., water was released at a speed of 27203 cusecs. An alert has been issued to the residents living along the riverbanks to be careful.

Additionally, due to heavy rains in Pune on Wednesday night, water entered the houses and buildings located in Ekta Nagri and Vitthal Nagar areas. The Pune Fire Department has brought boats to evacuate the people from the residences.

Additionally, in Mumbai, the Vihar Lake, which is one of the seven lakes supplying water to the entire city, started overflowing at 3:50 a.m. on Thursday. The full storage capacity of the Vihar Lake is 2,769.8 crore litres.

The District Information Office has also predicted gusty winds at a rate of 50 to 60 km per hour likely to occur in isolated places over Palghar, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg and moderate ran in Kolhapur and the Ghat areas of Pune in the next three hours.

Orders have been given by Pune District Magistrate Suhas Diwas to keep the schools in Pune closed as the Indian Meteorological Department has issued a red alert in Pune city, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Bhor, Velha, Maval, Mulshi, Haveli and the Khadakwasla areas.

Advisories have also been issued to the public to stay indoors and venture out only if necessary.

The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Maharashtra on Thursday and has predicted extremely heavy rainfall.

IMD Director Sunil Kambe said, "Monsoon is very active in Maharashtra. We issued a red alert for Pune yesterday and the city recorded 114 mm of rain and in the Ghat areas, more than 200 mm of rain has been recorded. Mumbai has also received more than 65 mm of rain during the last 24 hours. Today, a yellow alert has been issued in Mumbai and an orange alert for Pune. (ANI)