INDIA. Mumbai: Although there was a little let-up in the incessant rains that lashed the Konkan region including Mumbai in the last two days, the landslide in Thane, claiming 5 lives on Monday, took the death toll in the rain-related incidents to 37.
Five members of a family, including three minors, were killed as a boulder crashed into a slum colony-Durga Chawl, damaging four houses at Gholai Nagar in Kalwa East in Thane. The Fire brigade, Disaster management cell, and Thane disaster response force along with locals carried out the rescue operation. The slum is located at the bottom of the hills, resulting in a landslide directly on the house.
Thane Municipal Corporation’s Regional Disaster Management Cell chief Santosh Kadam told the “Transcontinental Times” that in the incident, five people – a husband-wife duo and their three children – were buried alive. The bodies were retrieved from the debris by search and rescue personnel. Two children, aged 5 and 18, of the same family were rescued. The deceased were identified as Prabhu Sudam Yadav (45), his wife Vidhavatidevi Yadav (40), and their children Ravikisan (12) Simran (10), and Sandhya (3). People have been shifted from the houses in the vicinity as a precautionary measure.
The death toll till now includes Mumbai: Bharat Nagar, Mahul, Chembur 19, Surya Nagar, Vikroli 10, Bhandup 01, Andheri-01 and Kandivali-01 and Thane 05=35. These include two people electrocuted on Saturday/Sunday. In the first incident one Mohmed Sali Patel, working in a Firdos Sweet Mart located in Andheri West died of electric shock during heavy water logging. In another incident one Ritesh Chandrakishore Jha, a resident of Bihari Chawl located at Poisar in Kandivali West in North Mumbai died when he accidentally touched he meter box.
In another incident, some makeshift houses collapsed in the Shivaji Nagar area of Kasara due to rains, a Thane civic official said. Though no one was injured, families in the area were shifted and accommodated in a nearby Zilla Parishad school. In the Dosti and Naik Park area of Mumbra, near Thane, over 15 goats died in the puddle of water in the farm since they could not be rescued on time. In Thane due to the overflowing of the Talao Pali lake, the nearby roads were submerged.
Due to a landslide in Kasara ghat in Thane district, the train traffic towards Nashik was halted. In Ambernath, due to the overflowing of the Waldhuni river, there was heavy water logging in the ancient temple of Lord Shiva. Besides, due to water logging the documents and records in the Ambernath Municipal Corporation were damaged.
Konkan region
There have been rain-related incidents like the roads caving in and the rivers on spate in different parts of the Konkan region due to the incessant rains. The Patalganga river in Pen in Raigad district was in spate, flowing above danger flood mark. The Srivardhan-Dighi Road caved in causing traffic disruption. Also, the services of Konkan Railway came to halt following an erosion in the Karmali tunnel in neighbouring Goa.
IMD has issued an orange alert for Ratnagiri, Raigad, and Sindhudurg including Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar till July 22. Meanwhile, Mira Bhayander Municipal Corporation (near Mumbai) has asked people to boil water before drinking due to seepage caused by the heavy rains.
