#WeatherMan – Cyclonic Circulation Revives Pune’s Monsoon

September 22, 2017

Pune witnessed a return in monsoons in the past few days as rain continued unabated.. This brought several businesses, flights and trains to a standstill, and people did not venture out of their homes.

In the city, flooding was reported in many areas with cases of bridges being submerged arising due to water being released from the Khadakwasla dam.

Speaking to Pune365, A K Srivastava, Head of Climate Monitoring and Analysis Group at the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD), explains that the monsoons returned due to cyclonic circulation.

“There was a cyclonic circulation around the Konkan and Goa region which revived the monsoons. It is now moving northwards towards Madhya Pradesh so there will be more rainfall in Vidarbha region.”

With the rains beating down, the city has come to a halt with uncontrollable traffic in various parts. “I work in Wanowrie and my house is in Kothrud. It took me almost two hours to reach home. Many people were taking their two-wheelers on the pedestrians tracks instead of waiting in the traffic. There are also potholes on the roads which makes it even tougher to ride. The worst part is that there were insufficient traffic cops present to manage it. I faced the worst traffic at the Bibwewadi-Kondhwa Road,” says Harpreet Kaur, 24.

Another commuter adds that he travels from Kondhwa to Katraj and has to pass through Khadi Machine Chowk which he claims is perpetually blocked due to traffic.

“There are a lot of heavy vehicles passing through that road and because there isn’t a roundabout, all these big vehicles have to go from there. I smoked two and half cigarettes while I waited for the traffic to move in the heavy rain.”

According to Srivastava, rains in Pune will continue only for a short period, “In fact, there will just be one or two instances of rain. We have categorised it in light to moderate rainfall.” Asked if the return is due to climate change, he claims that it cannot be generalised in such a way.

“Climate change is a more long-term phenomena. We cannot generalise it based on one instance. But we have observed over the years, that heavy rainfall is on the rise, and light rainfall is on the decline. We have recorded these observations over a few years.”