India: More than 100 people have died and thousands moved to safer locations as heavy rains continue to batter Maharashtra, triggering landslides and floods in several districts.
Even as the armed forces and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) carry out rescue operations, no immediate relief appears in sight. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for six districts of Maharashtra, forecasting “extremely heavy” rainfall and recommending preventive actions.
The six districts are: Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan and Pune, Satara and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
On Saturday morning, a passenger train derailed between Dudhsagar and Sonaulim in South Goa after heavy rains and the overflowing of the Vashishti river between Chiplun and Kamathe in Maharashtra.
At least 136 people have died in rain-related incidents, including landslides and floods, in Maharashtra over the last few days, officials said on Saturday. Most of the deaths are from Raigad and Satara districts, the official said.
The deceased included 38 people who died in a landslide in a village in the coastal Raigad district’s Mahad tehsil on Thursday. The landslide in Raigad district took place near Talai village in Mahad tehsil on Thursday evening. NDRF teams and local officials were engaged in rescue work in Mahad.
Landslides also hit Ambeghar and Mirgaon villages in Satara’s Patan tehsil during Thursday night, burying a total of eight houses, said Ajay Kumar Bansal, Superintendent of Police, Satara rural. Ten persons were also feared trapped after a landslide in the coastal Ratnagiri district. But no deaths have been confirmed in the two incidents by local officials so far.
