129 Lives Lost In Different Incidents Due To Rain In Maharastra

Pune, 24th July 2021: While 129 people died in rain-related incidents and landslides in Maharashtra in the last two days, 84,452 people under the Pune division were shifted to safer places as heavy rains continue to wreak havoc in the state.

“In Pune division of western Maharashtra, 84,452 people have been shifted to safer places due to heavy rains and inflow of rivers. Of these, more than 40,000 people are from the Kolhapur district. The Panchganga river near Kolhapur town is flowing above the level of 2019 floods,” said officials.

Along with Pune and Kolhapur, the division also includes Sangli and Satara districts. Satara has been badly affected by heavy rains and landslides. A senior official of the State Disaster Management Department told PTI that 38 of the dead were caused by landslides in the coastal Raigad district. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for Satara district on Friday evening and forecasted extremely heavy rains in the next 24 hours in the mountainous Ghats area of ​​the district, where around 30 people are missing after the landslide.

“Eleven people, including eight Nepalese workers, were rescued from a bus just before it rammed into a river in Kolhapur district on Friday morning,” said police. The death toll in Maharashtra has reached 129 in the last 48 hours. Most of the deaths have been reported from Raigad and Satara districts. Apart from landslides, many people were washed away in the flood waters. The official put the death toll in various incidents in western Maharashtra’s Satara district at 27.

They said that a landslide occurred near Talai village of Mahad tehsil in Raigad district on Thursday evening. NDRF teams and local officials are engaged in rescue work in Mahad.

Satara Rural Superintendent of Police Ajay Kumar Bansal said, “A total of eight houses in Ambeghar and Mirgaon villages were gutted in landslides on Thursday night. But so far no death has been confirmed by the local authorities in both incidents. At least 10 people are feared trapped under the debris after landslides occurred in Ratnagiri district with incessant rains in the same state.”

Moments before a bus was washed away in flood waters in western Maharashtra’s Kolhapur district 11 people, including eight Nepali workers, were rescued. Sanjay More, the senior inspector of Bhudargarh police station, said, “Police Patil (local police representative) Sandeep Gurav of Pangre village, some local people and home guard staff stopped the bus and asked the driver not to go ahead. But he ignored this and took the bus over the bridge.”

He said that even the passengers and his co-driver tried to stop the driver, but he kept on moving on the bridge. Once the bus slipped on the bridge and landed in the river. After this, some passengers climbed on the roof and started shouting for help.

More said, “Police Patil Gurav, other policemen, home guards, and local youths reached the spot and rescued all the 11 people by tying a rope to a truck parked near the bridge.” 

According to police, bus driver Ajit Pardeshi (39) was taken into custody. A case has been registered against him under section 307 of the Indian Penal Code.

Officials said that six teams of the Indian Army and Navy are expected to join the rescue operation on Saturday morning. 54 villages have been affected by the floods while 821 villages have been partially affected. He said that in the Kolhapur district alone, 40,882 people have been evacuated from the flood-affected areas. Five people died in rain-related incidents in the Kolhapur district – two in Radhanagari, two in Chandgarh and one in Kagal tehsil. At least 39 roads, including 10 state highways, are closed for traffic due to floods in the Kolhapur district. Three teams of NDRF have been pressed into the rescue operation.

Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government on Friday announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of those who died in the landslide. A statement issued from the Chief Minister’s Office here said that Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray, expressing grief over the loss of lives, announced financial assistance. There is no respite from the rains to the people in the state as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for six districts, which are already drenched in rain. IMD forecasts “extremely heavy rain” and recommends precautionary measures