Mrudula Narale
Pune| May 28, 2025 :Pune’s heavy rains became fatal on May 26 when two people died in different incidents. A motorcyclist, 49-year-old Rahul Shrikant Joshi, lost his life when a falling branch of a tree hit him while riding under a downpour on Samarth Road in Karve Nagar. In another incident of tragedy, an elderly woman, 75-year-old Tarabai Vishwachandra Ahir-Dipwal, lost her life when the wall of her run-down shop collapsed at Daund, highlighting the risk presented by the city’s first major rains this season.
Joshi, who is a resident of Karve Nagar and works at a private firm, was driving his two-wheeler home at 7:15 p.m. His motorcycle was also damaged by the impact, and a traffic jam for a short time ensued. Fire department officials soon cleared away the wreckage to allow normal traffic.
Tarabai, a flower and decoration materials shop owner in Daund, near a temple in Wadgaonkar Chawt, met a tragic death that same morning. Endless rains weakened the wall of her old shop, which led to the falling of the corrugated iron roof and wall over her. She was critically injured and was taken to a private hospital, but died before receiving any treatment. The accidents point to the dangers of aging structures and natural disasters during heavy rains.
Pune has experienced such rain-linked tragedies in the past few years. In 2022, a motorbike rider was killed after he skidded on a fallen branch, and three others sustained injuries after a tree fell near SP College on Tilak Road. The same year, a youth, Abhijeet Gund, was killed by a falling branch on Omkareshwar Temple in Shaniwar Peth. In 2023, a life was also lost in Bibwewadi due to a similar accident. These repeated incidents stress the necessity of taking preventive steps to deal with unwanted trees and buildings during monsoons.
The twin disasters on May 26 are the city’s first rain-related fatalities this year and serve as a warning against public safety in the midst of intensifying monsoon rains. The government is called upon to inspect such high-risk sites and augment infrastructure to avoid more deaths. For the meantime, the tragedies stand as a stark reminder of the unheralded threat heavy rains pose on cities.
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