While the risk from Cyclone Nisarga to Pune district may be relatively low as compared to Mumbai city and districts in the Konkan division, a number of tehsils in the district’s rural parts have been placed on ‘high alert’, said authorities on Tuesday.
Ayush Prasad, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Pune Zilla Parishad, said that immediate preventive measures were being taken to ensure that there was no loss to life and minimal damage to property.
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“As per the projections, there is a ‘high alert’ warning issued for Bhor, Velha, Mulshi, Maval and Westen Khed areas in rural Pune for Wednesday, with an ‘alert’ for Purandhar, Haveli, Shirur, eastern Khed, Ambegaon and Junnar. All officers in the rural areas have been instructed to holding meetings with the sub-divisional officers (SDOs), Tehsildar as well as Forest, Irrigation and State Electricity Department authorities and identify the risky areas in the region,” Mr. Prasad said.
He said that people living in villages in mountain passes in the Sahyadri Hills and high wind-velocity areas were being shifted as were people from low-lying areas which are prone to flash floods.
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“Preparatory meetings will be held with the village authorities like the gram sevak, Talathi and sarpanch (headman) via audio bridge. I have instructed them to move people living in houses with weak walls to safer locations for the time being,” said Mr. Prasad.
While taking precautionary measures to cope with any possible ravages of the cyclone, authorities had been instructed to ensure that the institutional quarantine facilities and COVID-19 care centres (CCCs) in these tehsils were secure.
“Furthermore, we are arranging to mobilise five ambulances per taluka by tomorrow. The police patils and gram suraksha dal (village safety units) in each village are being activated to ensure provision of immediate relief and assistance to persons injured by falling roofs. Likewise, every primary health centre (PHC) and sub-centres are being mobilised to tackle any emergency while first-aid kits are being distributed to ASHA workers and Aanganwadi Sevikas,” Mr. Prasad said.
Heavy rain forecast
The Pune branch of the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast moderate to heavy rains on Tuesday and Wednesday for Pune, especially in the rural areas.
Bhor and Velhe have already been receiving rain since Sunday. A spell of of rainfall over parts of Pune city saw a significant dip in temperature, bringing relief from the sweltering heat of the past few days.
“Pune city and parts of the district are very likely to get moderate rain on Tuesday and Thursday and moderate to heavy rain [between 15.6mm to 64.4mm] on Wednesday [June 3]. These spells of intense rain coupled with gusty winds of 40 kmph are likely to inundate low-lying areas besides causing major traffic problems. The rainfall activity is expected to reduce from June 5 onwards,” said Dr. Anupam Kashyapi, head of the weather and air pollution monitoring unit, IMD, Pune.
