The death toll in Maharashtra has risen to 155 while 89 people have been injured and 59 reported missing as flood and landslides leave a trail of destruction in the state. At least nine districts of Maharashtra and nearly 875 villages have been badly hit as torrential rains cause calamities in the region.
As many as 112 people have died in the last 72 hours, while 1.35 lakh people have been rescued to safety.
When heavy rains started pounding Chiplun town in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district on July 21, little did Pragati Rane, who runs a small coaching centre there, think that things could escalate to the level that she, her family and others would have to scale the sloped roofs of their houses and sit there precariously through the night amid the downpour, clinging on to hope. Although their nightmare ended after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rescued them hours later, an uphill task of rebuilding their own lives now awaits Rane and scores others like her.
The Konkan region of Maharashtra has been hard-hit due to continuous downpour for several days, causing major rivers in Ratnagiri and Raigad districts to overflow above the danger levels. The incessant rainfall wreaked havoc in the region as nearly 136 people were killed and many teams of NDRF had to be pressed into service for rescue operations. Both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and chief minister Uddhav Thackeray had been closely monitoring the situation. The weather woes, however, may not be over yet.
Here are Top Rain-related Updates:
• The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for six districts of Maharashtra which have been already pounded by heavy rains, forecasting “extremely heavy” rainfall and recommending preventive actions. “Fairly widespread to widespread rainfall with isolated heavy to very heavy falls are likely to continue over west coast during the next two to three days with reduction thereafter,” the IMD said.
• The alert has been issued for the next 24 hours for the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan and also for Pune, Satara and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra. Extremely heavy rainfall is “very likely” at isolated places in ghat (hilly/upland) areas, an IMD official said. “Very likely” denotes 51 to 75 per cent probability of occurrence, he added. The forecast for Satara is “most likely” which means a probability of more than 75 per cent, he said.
• Mahad death toll has now crossed 44, with 33 bodies found in Kalai, 11 in Karnal. Several people are still said to be trapped under the debris, as rescue and relief work continues.
• “A total of 44 bodies retrieved from the debris till now from two locations. As many as 35 injured are under treatment. Total of six locations experienced landslides in Raigad district. At one location, rescue operation still continues. According to officials and staff present at the spot, around 50 more people are feared trapped under the debris,” Raigad district collector Nidhi Chaudhary said.
• As many as 18 people have died in rain-hit Satara district, while 24 persons are still missing. The fatality count in rain-related incidents in Raigad district of Maharashtra reached 47 on Saturday, including 37 in the landslide at Taliye village, the state disaster management department said. A total of 47 persons have died in Raigad district in the Konkan region in rain-related incidents. The official toll at Taliye village is 37, while the remaining 10 deaths are from two separate incidents of landslide in the same district, it said in the report.
• Maharashtra governor Bhagat Singh Koshiyari on Saturday expressed condolences to the families of people who died in the flood. “Deeply anguished by the death of innocent people in tragedies caused by unprecedented rains in various parts of the State. Many people have lost their lives due to landslides and house collapse. Convey my heartfelt condolences to the next of those who lost their lives in the natural calamity and pray for the success of rescue operations,” he tweeted.
• The Kolhapur Zilla Sahakari Dudh Utpadak Sangh (KZSDUS), which owns the milk brand Gokul, ha said that there will be no supply of milk in Mumbai due to flooding in Kolhapur, Sangli and other districts of Maharashtra.
• After landslide in Raigad, Maharashtra Minister Eknath Shinde visited Tilaye village and gave the destruction figures of the area. “33 dead bodies recovered, 52 still missing. Rescue operation will resume in the morning. A total of 32 houses have been destroyed,” he said.
• In Pune, 84,452 people, including over 40,000 in Kolhapur district, have been shifted to safer places, officials said.
• The Army under ‘Operation Varsha’ has mobilised columns in action for flood relief in the state. A total of 15 teams, comprising troops from Aundh Military Station and Bombay Engineer Group based in Pune, have been deployed in affected areas of Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sangli districts
• States adjoining Maharashtra were also affected, especially Goa and Telangana. On Friday, Goa witnessed its worst and most widespread floods in nearly four decades — the last being in 1982. Nearly a thousand houses were damaged, many collapsed, at least two minor bridges were washed away and roads submerged, largely in Sattari, Bicholim and Ponda talukas, besides parts of Bardez, Pernem and Dharbandora.
• Around 8 am on Friday, Wankidi and Asifabad in Kumurambheem Asifabad district of Telangana had recorded 361 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, the highest this season, according to the real-time rainfall data provided by the Telangana State Development Planning Society (TSDPS).
• Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao called for a permanent solution to the annual floods. The CM noted that water was flowing abundantly into lakes and water bodies after the construction of irrigation projects where water is available at full capacity throughout the year. “In such a case, the flood situation is becoming alarming,” he said, according to a statement issued by his office.
(With PTI inputs)
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