The toll from landslides and accidents caused by torrential monsoon rain in Maharashtra rose to 164 on Monday, ANI reported.
The state government said that Raigad district has recorded the highest toll with the deaths of 71 residents so far, followed by Satara, which has reported 41 fatalities. There have been 21 deaths in Ratnagiri, 12 in Thane, seven in Kolhapur, four in Mumbai, and two each in Pune, Sindhudurg, Wardha and Akola districts.
About 100 people remain missing and 107 have sustained injuries as of Monday afternoon. Rescue teams have evacuated 2,29,074 residents so far, with the highest number (1,69,968) rescued from Sangli district, followed by 40,882 from Kolhapur.
Twenty-five teams of the National Disaster Response Force, four of the State Disaster Response Force are engaged in rescue efforts currently. Five teams of the Navy, three of the Indian Army and two from the Coast Guard were also part of the operations.
On Monday afternoon, relief operations were still ongoing in various parts of the Sangli district as many people are still stranded in their houses, News18 reported.
Several parts of the Sangli district have been cut off from the rest of the state. The portion of the National Highway 4 leading to the district is shut, as are several other roads.
Meanwhile, the rescue operation ended in Taliye village in Mahad, where a landslide had buried homes. Raigad district magistrate said that 31 missing residents will be declared dead after due process. He added that the operation was called off after inputs from the National Disaster Response Force, State Disaster Response Force and Target Disaster Response Force.
Rain has started to subside in many parts of Maharashtra since Sunday. The India Meteorological Department has predicted light rainfall and a comparatively dry week for the state, The Indian Express reported. However, heavy rain has been predicted at isolated places Raigad, Ratnagiri Sindhudurg, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara districts.
Water levels in western Maharashtra’s flood-affected districts remained over the danger mark till Sunday, even as rainfall reduced, reported News18. As Karnataka began to discharge over 3,50,000 cusecs of water on Sunday, the level in Krishna, Panchganga and Warana rivers in Kolhapur and Sangli stabilised over the last 24 hours, according to the Hindustan Times.
The torrential rain also caused deaths of 22,581 animals in the worst-affected districts, and 17,300 poultry died in Sangli district alone.
The National Highway-4, which connects Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai, remains shut for traffic as heavy vehicles are stranded on the expressway, according to News18. The bridge connecting Chiplun and Mumbai has collapsed and remains closed for traffic.
A Central Railway spokesperson told PTI that rail lines in the Thal and Bhor Ghat areas of Thane, Nashik and Pune have been restored.
Six landslides occurred in Kolhapur on Friday, while Raigad had three in Taliye, Sakhar Sutarwadi and Kevlane, according to the Hindustan Times.
“The rescue operations at most of the landslide sites are expected to be called off by Monday as the chances of the recovery of missing people from the sites are very small,” a Raigad district official told the newspaper. “The bodies are likely to have washed away with the force of the water and may have travelled far off.”
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday visited Chiplun city in Ratnagiri district to take stock of the situation. He said that a financial review of the flood damage in the state would be carried out in a couple of days.
District collectors have been directed to immediately provide food, medicine, clothes and other necessities to the flood victims, Thackeray said. He added that the economy was sluggish due to the coronavirus pandemic and sought assistance from the central government for “long-term mitigation measures”.
Thackeray said he would announce a relief package after the visits to the districts affected due to the heavy rain. On Friday, the Maharashtra government announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the families of people who died in landslides.
Other states
Incessant rain also lashed several parts of Gujarat, with 56 roads in the state closed for vehicular movement, the state government said on Monday.
The India Meteorological Department has predicted heavy rainfall at isolated places in some districts of Gujarat in the next 24 hours. It has advised the fishermen not to venture into the Arabian Sea till July 29.
The weather department also said light to moderate intensity rain is likely over few places of Northwest, West and Southwest Delhi on Monday.
Meanwhile in Karnataka, as many as 10 residents died and three others were reported missing in the flood-affected regions, state revenue minister R Ashok said on Sunday, reported the Hindustan Times. The India Meteorological Department has issued a red alert, which is a warning for potential inclement weather, for seven districts in the coastal areas of the state.
The weather department has also predicted three more days of rain in Karnataka.
The Karnataka State Disaster Management Authority said that as many as 283 villages in 45 taluks were the worst-hit due to heavy rain, which have affected over 36,498 residents. At least 22,417 residents have been rehabilitated in 237 relief camps in the state.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa on Sunday visited the flood-affected areas.
A red alert was issued in the districts of Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Dakshina Kannada, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Hassan, and Kodagu. An orange alert, a warning to be prepared, was also issued for Belagavi and Dharwad.
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