Floods In Maharashtra Claim 76 Lives, 30 Missing: State Government
With monsoon wreaking havoc across Maharashtra, as many as 76 people lost their lives in rain-related incidents, while 38 others have been injured due to floods that were reported in many parts of the state, the Maharashtra government said on Saturday.
This development comes in the backdrop of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams recovering five bodies on Saturday from the site of a landslide, that occurred at Ambeghar village in Satara district of Maharashtra. According to officials, at least 16 people are still feared trapped in the area. The landslide occurred during the intervening night of Thursday and Friday.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) on Saturday said as many as 30 people are currently missing after being swept away by floodwaters.
Amid these developments, the NDRF deployed an additional eight teams to help in relief operations in Maharashtra. At the moment, 26 NDRF teams have been deployed in the state.
Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a “red alert” for Satara, forecasting “extremely heavy rainfall” in the next 24 hours in the hilly `ghat’ areas of this Western Maharashtra district where about 30 persons are missing and 27 others died after landslides. The IMD has also issued an “orange alert” for Pune and Kolhapur districts.
Parts of Raigad, Ratnagiri districts in the coastal Konkan region and Kolhapur district in western Maharashtra, have been worst affected by the floods. Besides that, heavy rains have been pounding parts of Satara district.
A senior official of the state disaster management department had told PTI on Friday that as many as 129 people have died in rain-related incidents, including multiple landslides, in Maharashtra over the two previous days.
The CMO statement said that as per the information received from the Relief and Rehabilitation Department, nearly 90,000 people have been evacuated so far in the state.
Seventy-five animals have perished, it added.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray will visit the flood-hit Mahad town in Raigad district and also tour Taliye village, where a landslide had occurred.
At least 39 people were killed in the landslide in Taliye village, a senior police official has said.
(With PTI inputs)
