Not Cherrapunji, but this place in Pune is the wettest region this monsoon

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Updated: Aug 06, 2019 22:07 IST

Tamhini Ghat in Pune district has emerged as the wettest place in India during this monsoon as of date, with more rainfall than Cherrapunji in Meghalaya.

This has been recorded by India Meteorological Department (IMD) as per rainfall data till August 6, 2019.

Between June 1 and August 5, Tamhini ghat in Pune district received 5,959 mm of rainfall as against 5,346.3 mm rainfall in Cherrapunji.

“Orography of Sahyadri range created a huge convergence over the region which generated exceptionally huge cloud mass especially over ghat section near Tahmini which resulted in extremely heavy rain,” said Anupam Kashyapi, head of weather at IMD Pune.

The senior IMD official attributed the presence of strong system over the region for the heavy to very heavy downpour in Pune district.

Circulation over Gujarat at the mid-tropospheric level and presence of an offshore trough from Gujarat to Karnataka is adding to the heavy downpour in the region, Kashyapi said.

Sanjay O’Neill Shaw, head of IMD’s Regional Meteorological Centre in Guwahati, said, “Yes, it is true that Tahmini has overtaken our Cherrapunji.” He attributed this to the presence of strong monsoon system over Maharashtra. He said the final picture would emerge after the remaining two months of the monsoon.

Last year, Mahabaleshwar in Satara district had surpassed Cherrapunji. Kashyapi attributed this to the presence of strong westerlies dragging consistently huge amount of moisture from the Arabian sea over the Sahyadri range resulting into heavy downpour over the region. “As you can see not only Tahmini but many adjoining places are receiving high rainfall,” he said.

Considering the heavy downpour in Tamhini ghat, the district administration has closed the road going towards Tamhini as a precautionary measure.

“As a result of consistent rainfall, the Mutha river has been flowing above safe limits and hence, as a precautionary measure, we have requested the people to avoid visiting Tamhini ghat. The district administration has taken all precautionary steps,” said Abhay Chavan, tehsildar of Mulshi taluka.