Title - Heavy showers spare no mode of transport

City received rains heavy enough to throw the road, rail and air traffic off gear on Sunday. Buses, trains, and flights were either delayed or diverted because of the showers

Flights diverted to Mumbai

The rains also managed to disrupt the air traffic though marginally. Air India’s flight number AI 521 from Chennai was delayed by 2 hours due to the rain as the visibility level was affected by 2,000 meters.An airport official said, “The visibility level on Sunday was 4,000 meters compared to 6,000 meters on normal days. However, the air traffic was smooth and the outgoing flights from Pune were able to take off without any difficulty.”However, an airport traffic control department official said that Indigo’s Chennai-Pune flight number 6E-311 was diverted to Mumbai. “The flight was scheduled to land in Pune at 1.05 pm, however, it was diverted to Mumbai due to heavy rain and poor visibility,” said the official.

E-way, highway witness landslides

The vehicles plying on the Pune-Mumbai Expressway moved at a much lower speed than usual, thanks to water logging and landslide due to the heavy showers.The traffic on old Pune-Mumbai Highway too was disrupted near Talegaon after an overhead wire fell down on the highway and a landslide was reported near the toll plaza. Besides, water logging was reported on Pune-Bangalore Highway, Nashik Highway, Pune-Mumbai old highway and some parts near Khandala on the Expressway.State highway police officer SP Dilip Bhujbal said, “The traffic movement in parts of the highway especially near the ghats was slow due to water logging. A landslide was witnessed near the Talegaon toll plaza on Pune-Mumbai old highway, however, it was cleared within an hour.”On Sunday afternoon, an auto carrier broke down at Vadgaon-Maval flyover National Highway 4 on Pune Mumbai old highway disrupting the traffic for more than an hour.

Around 188 MSRTC buses affected

As many as 188 buses run by the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses were affected due to the rain. Besides, buses plying towards Pune were delayed by more than two hours.Buses faced difficulty in Sion were the roads were submerged in water. Senior depot manager of Shivajinagar ST depot Vilas Patil said, “Buses on Pune-Mumbai route ran late by two hours. Around 50 Shivneri buses and 18 semi-luxury buses were affected on Sunday.”Senior depot manager Swargate Vijay Divate said, “More than 120 state transport buses were delayed for than 3 hours as buses were stuck in traffic jams near Sion and Chembur.”

High tension wire collapse on rail track

Trains coming from Mumbai ran late by 6 hours while those going to Mumbai were delayed by two hours. Besides, the local train service was also disrupted after a Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) high-tension wire between Pimpri and Akurdi broke at 7 am on Sunday because of the heavy rains. Divisional railway manager of Pune division Vishal Agarwal said, “Six trains heading towards Mumbai were delayed by two hours after a 24 Kilo-Volt-Ampere (KVA) high-tension wire came down on the railway track. The MSEDCL officials were immediately informed and it was fixed. The trains on the route were resumed after 9am.” He added, “We have asked them to check all the wires in the route in order to avoid similar incidents.”