INDIA. Mumbai: Although the water began receding in some parts of the state, after the rains battered Maharashtra for the last four days, the landslides continued and the death toll in rain-related incidents crossed 50, with the death of three people in house collapse in Govandi in North East Mumbai on Friday.
Three people died and 7 others were injured grievously when a single-storey building located at Shivaji Nagar in Govandi collapsed at about 4.58 am on Friday. Seven people were rescued by the Mumbai fire brigade personnel, while the 7 injured were admitted to the BMC-run Rajawadi Hospital located at Ghatkopar East. The deceased were identified as Faizal Qureshi(21), Namra Qureshi(17), and Shahina Qureshi(26).
In Talai in Mahad Taluka of Raigad, 36 people died in a landslide and 5 people were feared trapped under the debris. “A total of 36 people died in the district due to landslides, 32 of them died in Talai and 4 in Sakhar Sutar Wadi. 30 people trapped: Nidhi Chaudhary, District Collector, Raigad, tweeted.
In Khed in Ratnagiri, 17 people and nearly 25 domestic animals perished when a huge boulder came crashing down on the houses at Baudhawadi in Posare village late Thursday night. Jagbudi and Naringin rivers in the district are already overflowing.
NDRF personnel engaged in rescue operations in Chiplun in Ratnagiri.(Photo credit: Atul Devrukhkar).
Water started receding in most parts of Chiplun in Ratnagiri on Friday. The four National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams along with, Coast Guard, the navy, and the army began rescue operations, after the situation improved partially. The Western Naval Command in Mumbai deployed five teams to Chiplun. Each team has five rescue team members, and a boat, and can save between 5-7 adults. Two helicopters of the Indian Air Force helicopters have been deployed for rescue operations of people stranded in Chiplun and Khed towns in the district. Over 1000 people have been evacuated till now.
According to Chiplun district collector B R Patil, illegal constructions along the Vashisthi river and discharge from the Kolkewadi dam could have led to flooding. He stated that the continuous heavy rainfall in the catchment areas of Vashishti, Savitri rivers, and catchment area of Kolpewadi dam in Satara district, the opening of floodgates of Kolpewadi dam, high tide in the Arabian sea have been some of the chief factors which affected Chiplun the most. More than 80% of the town with a population of 70,000 has been submerged due to the rise in the water level of river Vashishti.
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In Sakhar-Sutarwadi in Poladpur in Raigad district, 4 people died in a landslide and 5 others were fear trapped under the debris. In the same district, due to the landslide in Amboli ghat, the accessibility to neighbouring Sindhudurg district and Western Maharashtra was blocked. The Mumbai-Goa Highway has already been closed down since Thursday. In Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra, hundreds of families were shifted due to over flooding in the Kolhapur city.
In meanwhile K S Hosalikar, senior scientist at IMD, Pune, said, “Latest radar images indicate very intense clouds over parts of the Raigad-Roha in the Konkan region.
