Rains wash down Diwali gleen in Nagpur, cracker business set to hit

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Nagpur: True to the heavy rain alert sounded by Met office, Nagpur saw a sudden twist in weather, shifting from cloudy to rainy, which resulted into heavy downpour on Saturday afternoon. The unseasonal showers have waterlogged many areas in Nagpur which otherwise remains dry and dusty around this time of the year.

Worse even, the owners of cracker shops stare at big loss as most of the makeshift establishments were not rain proof. The sudden rains, apparently the result of cyclone Kyarr, have spelled doom over the cracker sale which has already taken hit in view of pro environmentalists’ call to avoid bursting crackers.

“The festive gleen has certainly lost and weather thing is like a bolt from the blue that cracked upon us”, said a cracker trader.
Meanwhile, the citizens and commuters faced harrowing time as they had to wade through waist-deep water logged streets on Saturday. Choked nullahs added to the woes as streets and low-laying areas were flooded with gushing water.

This led to traffic snarls in the area forcing traffic to be diverted to alternative routes due to water-logging in the low lying areas across the city. While many roads, riddled with potholes, are seen jam packed the vehicles struggling to move through have again bare opened NMC’s monsoon preparations.

An IMD alert stated that heavy rain will keep lashing the coast, with possibility of Cyclone Kyarrforming any time soon. It stated the well-marked low pressure area over east central Arabian Seawould gradually intensify into a depression, and by Friday, the system will start moving in the north-west direction. It is expected to intensify into a cyclone.

The IMD forecast that there would be light to moderate rainfall at most places with heavy to very heavy rain at a few places, and extremely heavy rain at isolated places over the coastal districts during the next 24 hours, and reduction in rainfall thereafter. It also forecast gales with speeds reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 65 kmph over east central Arabian Sea and along and off the North Karnataka coast and gales reaching speeds of 40-50 kmph gusting to 60 kmph along and off the South Karnataka coast.