Nagpur: Extremely heavy rains pounded Washim late on Wednesday night, leaving several villages cut off and inflicting severe damage to agricultural fields, besides flooding many areas. According to Regional Meteorological Centre (RMC) data, Washim received 122.4mm of rain, but a cloudburst was ruled out as the span of the downpour was more than one hour. This was an all-time high for Washim, which previously received 121mm of rain on June 15, 2013.Extremely heavy rains were also reported at Ghantanji in Yavatmal, which recorded 129.7mm of rainfall. Saoner near Nagpur received 56mm of rainfall in a short duration early Thursday night. Rains wreaked havoc in other districts of Vidarbha, including Buldhana, Yavatmal, Wardha, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur, Akola, Bhandara, and Amravati. An orange alert was sounded for Washim and Yavatmal for Thursday, while a yellow alert will remain for entire Vidarbha on Friday.Washim district officials said soil erosion occurred in agricultural fields, damaging the sowing done by farmers for the Kharif season. “Traffic was disrupted as water was flowing over roads. Some small bridges were damaged due to the strong water current. However, no loss of human life or damage to homes was reported,” they said. Officials added that two circles received more than 200mm of rainfall. RMC data shows 145.1mm of rainfall in Malegaon village of Washim.RMC forecasting officials said the southern end of the monsoon trough lay over Washim, due to which it received extremely heavy rains. District officials said the rains stopped on Thursday afternoon. IMD scientist Dr Rizwan Ahmed said convection was moderate on Thursday evening over Nagpur and adjoining areas, while more intense convection was observed over the West Vidarbha region. “It indicates moderate rainfall over Nagpur and adjoining areas,” he said.He added that while moderate convection is currently being observed in satellite images over Nagpur and adjoining areas, it’s important to note that significantly higher convective activity is being detected over neighbouring regions, including East Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Maharashtra, and Telangana. This suggests that Vidarbha is surrounded by zones of intense convection, he said.“Monsoonal conditions remain favourable across Central India, with sustained moisture incursion from both the Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea. This setup enhances the potential for further development and movement of convective clouds into Vidarbha, including Nagpur. Hence, the probability of continued or even increased rainfall activity over the next 24 hours cannot be ruled out,” he said.
