Aurangabad, Sept 7:
The heavy rainfall in the city exposed the government machinery. The side drains built on Jalna Road by the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) turned out to be ineffective and water logging was witnessed for hours leading to traffic jam.
The rain played havoc in the lives of people staying in posh localities and slums as well. The rainwater stormed into the residential and the commercial areas due to choking up of side drains on the roads and clogged nullahs. Three-feet high water was accumulated on Jalna road. The three and four-wheelers were seen struggling to find a safe way from the pools of rainwater.
The situation in the old city was not different. Heavy water-logging was seen in areas like Aurangpura, Tilak Path, Paithan Gate, Rangar Galli and Dalalwadi. The rainwater entered the nearby houses and shops. The height of stormed water was 5-6 feet. The encroachments in and upon the nullahs have reduced their original size. Many illegal shops have been constructed on banks or upon them.
Traffic jam was witnessed on many roads in the city. The vehicles were moving at a snail's pace due to accumulated water. Dnyaneshwar Dange, Manoj Bora and others drained the rainwater (with silt) that had stormed Hanuman Temple at Cidco N-4 sector.
Woman saved
A woman fell in the nullah near a cloth shop in Tilak Path. The fire brigade personnel saved her from being swept away. Gopal Kulkarni, Ulhas Narwade, Akash Harsulkar and others helped in the rescue work.
The students of a computer training institute got stuck when the underground portion of their building was submerged, in Aurangpura. They came out safely after one and a half hours.
Cloudburst like rainfall
The rain started to lash the city at 7.10 pm. The speed of rainfall increased sharply at 7.12 pm. There was heavy rainfall till 8.10 pm. The rain was falling with the speed of 166.75 mm per hour during the first (half an hour) round. The rainfall recorded till 7.30 pm was 56.2 mm.
"We call it cloudburst if there is 100 mm or more rainfall received in an hour. The average speed of rain was 86.9 mm per hour at 7.50 pm. The speed was reduced to 53.24 mm at 8.20 pm. The rainfall recorded in and around the city between 7.10 pm and 8.10 pm was 87.6 mm,” said the Director of MGM's APJ Abdul Kalam Asrtrospace Science Centre (Aurangabad), Shrinivas Aundhkar.