The Pune district collector on Sunday issued an advisory after heavy downpour in several parts of Maharashtra severely affected normal life. The advisory from the Pune district collector ordered schools and colleges to remain shut on Monday as the situation was likely to “get critical”, PTI reported.
“We have issued an advisory for citizens asking them not to venture out of their houses unless absolutely necessary as the situation might get critical,” Pune District Collector Naval Kishore Ram was quoted as saying. The official said that educational institutions in Pimpri Chinchwad had also been asked to be shut on Monday.
The district’s low-lying areas are on alert as water has been released into Mutha river on Sunday after torrential rains in the catchment areas of the four dams. Ram said that Mula, Mutha, Pavana, Bhima and Nira rivers were all overflowing and more water could be released from the nearby dams.
Nearly 2,500 people had been rescued from flooded areas of the district, the district collector added. An unidentified official in the irrigation department said the catchment areas of the four dams – Khadakwasla, Panshet, Varasgaon and Temghar – had been receiving incessant rainfall. “When water will be released at the rate of around 42,000 cusecs, a lot of people will have to be evacuated from the low-lying areas...we have issued an advisory to the Pune Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell,” the official added.
Nearly 170 people, including 50 patients, were evacuated from Surya Hospital in the district’s Wakad area after the water released from a nearby dam flooded the basement of the hospital, The Hindu reported. The rescue operations were carried out by the National Disaster Response Force, Pune Municipal Corporation’s disaster management cell and the fire department.
Meanwhile, a major portion of a bridge in Palghar was washed away due to heavy rain, according to PTI.
A 10-year-old boy was killed and his younger sister received injuries after a wall of their house collapsed in Lonavala, about 90 km from Pune, police told News18.
An Indian Air Force helicopter failed to rescue 15 people stranded in Palghar district’s Buranda village as continuous rain affected the search operation, The Hindu reported. Thousands have been affected due to power cuts across several districts in the state. “Around 1.50 lakh customers in Vasai, Girij, Sandor, Kolar, Navghar, Sativali, Sun City, Vasai West and Mavelpada have been affected by this,” Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company public relations officer Vishwajeet Bhosale said in a statement.
The India Meteorological Department downgraded the red alert in Mumbai to orange, but the high alert was maintained for Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Nashik, Pune, Kolhapur and Satara, which are likely to witness ‘extremely heavy rain at isolated places’.
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