Maharashtra Rains: Father-Daughter Dead in Landslide, CM Announces Ex-Gratia

Mumbai: People holding umbrellas wade through a flooded road following heavy monsoon rains, in Mumbai, Tuesday.

(Photo: PTI/Kunal Patil)

As rains continue to wreak havoc in Maharashtra on Wednesday, 13 July, a father-daughter duo was reported dead after a landslide in Palghar.

Anil Singh and his daughter Roshni Singh (16) have been reported dead in the district, which has been witnessing very heavy rains since Tuesday night, causing waterlogging in many low-lying areas.

His wife Vandana Singh (40) and son Om Singh (12) got trapped in the debris. Some locals and firemen later pulled them out and they were admitted to a hospital for the treatment of their injuries, he said.

Later on Wednesday, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde announced an ex gratia sum of Rs 6 lakh each from the municipal corporation to the families of all those deceased due to the rains. Further, Rs 50 thousand each will be given to the injured.

Vasai: NDRF personnel carry out rescue and relief work after a landslide triggered by heavy monsoon rains, in Vasai, Maharashtra, on 13 July.

(Photo: PTI)

Disrupting normal life, the rain also forced thousands of people to be evacuated and pushed many others into shelters.

In Maharashtra's Nagpur, 10 people have died in the last 24 hours. A total of 20 people died, and 19 were injured in various incidents from 1 June to 13 July due to the rains, as per the district administration. Further, 88 animals were also killed and 293 houses were damaged.

Incessant showers continued in Mumbai and its neighbouring areas on Wednesday as well, causing flooding in many low-lying areas and traffic snarls on roads, officials said.

In Nashik, daily life remains disrupted with schools and colleges shut. In Palghar district, too, schools and colleges will remain closed on 13 and 14 July in wake of the red alert issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD).

6 Swept Away in Nashik, 4 in Gondia

At least six people were swept away following heavy rains in Maharashtra's Nashik district over the last 24 hours and the body of one of them has been found so far, officials said on Wednesday.

A 25-year-old man was swept away in Mutha river, while his friend who was stranded on the bridge, was rescued by the police and fire brigade in Maharashtra's Pune on Wednesday.

Four persons were also swept away in flooded nullahs in Maharashtra's Gondia district in two separate incidents, an official was reported as saying by PTI.

Ashish Dharmaraj Bagde (25) and Sanju Pramod Bagde (23) were swept away while they were trying to cross a nullah in Gondia's Pujaritola village, district disaster management officer Rajan Choubey said.

On the other hand, Javed Ali Hazrat Ali Sayyad (24) and Rehan Ali Kalim Sheikh (15) were swept away in Gondia's Gautam Nagar area while they were trying to swim in a nullah.

Officials said that a search and rescue operation has been launched to find them.

Heavy showers lashed Peth, Surgana, and Trimbakeshwar areas of the district on Tuesday. In Nashik city, showers were back on Wednesday after taking a break for some hours the previous day.

Moderate to intense spells of rains were also witnessed in Satara, Solapur, Sangli, and Kolhapur districts. Meanwhile, continuous showers in Pune and other western Maharashtra districts led to a rise in the water levels of several dams.

Meanwhile, in the wake of IMD's warning of heavy rainfall, Pune district administration issued a prohibitory order under Section 144 in all tourist places in the district. The administration prohibited the entry within a radius of 1 km to these spots from 14 to 17 July, ANI reported.

CM Shinde Orders Alert

Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that he had ordered officials to keep emergency services on alert across the state.

"I have directed the district officials to keep emergency services on alert, to ensure that no untoward incident occurs and assistance reaches the affected people in time," Shinde was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.

As many as 1,920 people from 19 villages have been shifted to safer locations in the last three days in Gadchiroli, as per officials.

All schools, colleges and private establishments and offices will remain closed in Gadchiroli district till 16 July.

Thirteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three teams of the State Disaster Response Force were deployed to vulnerable districts of the state, officials indicated on Tuesday.

Situation in Mumbai and Pune

According to the IMD, 20 locations in Mumbai received nearly 40 mm showers in six hours, till 9.30 am on Wednesday.

The data indicates that the city's cumulative rainfall has already surpassed its average precipitation in the current monsoon season.

Traffic on highways was disrupted, and subways witnessed flooding as the showers resumed unabated. Citizens were restricted from using the Andheri subway due to waterlogging.

An official said, “There was heavy traffic on the route in Borivali, Goregaon, Jogeshwari, Andheri and up to some extent near Bandra."

The city is likely to witness the wet spell on Thursday as well.

In Pune, the collective water storage of Khadakwasla, Temghar, Warasgaon, and Panshet dams, which provide water supply to Pune city, reached over 12 TMC (thousand million cubic feet)

This is 42 percent of the total collective capacity of the four reservoirs, a district administration official said, adding that "as the Khadakwasla dam is filling up rapidly, water is being released from it at 10,000 cubic feet per second (cusec)."

Visuals of waterlogged streets in the city were circulating on the internet on Wednesday.

According to the fire department, 20 incidents of tree fall were reported in Pune city on Tuesday and three people were injured in two separate incidents of wall collapse.

(With inputs from PTI and ANI.)