Kolhapur: Tourists and residents travelling between Mahabaleshwar and Tapola must continue using the single road through Manghar village, as heavy rainfall in the region is obstructing road repair works.Tapola, located 30km from Mahabaleshwar, is a popular picnic spot known for its beautiful lake and is often referred to as the ‘Mini Kashmir of Maharashtra' due to its misty hills, lush green valleys, and the picturesque Koyna backwaters.The Satara public works department (PWD) had taken up the repair works. During the construction of a gabion wall, another portion of the road in the same area caved in, causing further delays.

A PWD official said an additional 15 days are required for the road to resume vehicular movement.Ajay Deshpande, the deputy engineer with Satara PWD, said, "On June 18, the road at Chikhali Shed caved in due to a landslide, creating a gap of nearly 200 feet. The heavy water flow from the forest land creates pressure on the road. Three earth-moving machines are removing the debris. Work to build the gabion wall started two days ago.

However, on Friday, a section of the road collapsed again due to heavy rain. Another 15 days will be needed to repair this stretch if rain does not disrupt the work.

Until then, traffic will continue through the Manghar village route."Due to continuous rain, repairs were done by filling the holes on the road between Waghera to Vengale. However, the filling was washed away, and the road became waterlogged. The risk of landslides has made this work difficult, with heavy rain posing ongoing obstacles.Currently, the intensity of rain in the region has decreased to moderate levels. On Saturday, Mahabaleshwar received 68mm of rain, Navaja 46mm, Karad mm, Sangli 2mm, and Kolhapur 14mm in the 24-hour period till 10.30am.T

he Koyna dam catchment area has received a cumulative rainfall of 1,336mm so far. The dam is filled to 46% capacity, with an inflow of 22,124 cusec and an outflow of 1,050 cusec through the spillway.On Saturday evening, the Panchaganga river at the Rajaram barrage in the Kasba Bawda area of Kolhapur city flowed at a height of 31feet, with a discharge of 32,619 cusec from the barrage. The warning level of the Panchaganga River is 39 feet, and the danger level is set at 43 feet.