Pune: Rainfall activity over Maharashtra is likely to reduce from next week, with weather warnings expected to end across most parts of the state after Sunday, IMD scientist S D Sanap said on Thursday.The Western Ghats and Konkan are under a “yellow” alert for Friday, while on Sunday the warning will be restricted to the ghats. Pune city is expected to receive only very light to light rain during the next few days.The India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecast for Thursday to Saturday indicated generally cloudy skies and very light to light rain in the city, with isolated heavy rain likely at a few places in the ghats. “On Friday, the ghats and Konkan have a ‘yellow’ alert. On Sunday, the ‘yellow’ alert will be only for ghats areas. Thereafter, there is no warning for Maharashtra,” Sanap said.The recent increase in rainfall was linked to a system formed over the Bay of Bengal which strengthened the monsoon winds and resulted in isolated heavy rainfall over the Ghats and Konkan. “The monsoonal winds are already there, but their strength is less,” he said.A depression over the Bay of Bengal was expected to move northwestwards and mainly affect West Bengal, Jharkhand, parts of Bihar and Odisha. Its impact on Maharashtra is expected to be limited. “We are still however going to have light to moderate rainfall over some parts of Maharashtra on and off even next week, though the intensity would remain low,” the IMD scientist said.Meanwhile, rainfall in Pune district remained largely confined to the ghats on Thursday. Between 8.30am and 5.30pm, Kurvande recorded the highest rainfall at 20.5mm, followed by Girivan (10.5mm) and Malin (7mm). Nimgiri and Lavale recorded 2.5mm and 2mm, respectively.In Pune city, Pashan received 1.6mm of rain, Chinchwad 1.5mm and Shivajinagar 1.3mm during the period. Talegaon, Dapodi, Hadapsar, Koregaon Park and NDA received 1mm each.The IMD forecast indicates that temperatures in Pune city will remain around 28°C during the day and 21-23°C at night over the next few days.
