Maharashtra Floods Updates: Water levels in western Maharashtra’s flood affected districts continue to be above danger mark, even as rains have reduced. NH4, which links four the four big cities in India – Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore and Chennai – remains closed as several heavy vehicles are stranded on the highway.
An official said that Kolhapur has turned into an island, and has been cut off from the rest of the state as all roads approaching the city are under water. Rescue and relief operations are still underway. As many as 2.3 lakh people have been evacuated so far.
Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray is said to visit the flood-affected areas of Pune and Satara on Monday, while Maharashtra deputy CM Ajit Pawar will visit Sangli.
A day ago, CM Thackeray had visited Chiplun, the site of severe flooding, and interacted with residents, businessmen and shopkeepers. He promised them all help from the state government to restore normalcy in the area. Before that, the chief minister had also visited Mahad.
A statement from the state secretariat control room said that death toll in various rain-related incidents, including floods and landslides, in Maharashtra rose to 149 on Sunday with 36 more bodies being found in Satara and Raigad districts as rescue operations gathered pace, while 64 people remain missing.
A break-up of the figures showed 28 more deaths being reported from the Satara district in western Maharashtra and eight from the Raigad district in the coastal region. The government said 60 deaths were so far reported in Raigad, 21 in Ratnagiri, 41 in Satara, 12 in Thane, seven in Kolhapur, four in suburban Mumbai, and two each in Sindhudurg and Pune.
A total of 875 villages in Kolhapur, Sangli, Satara and Pune were affected by the torrential rains, it said. “Five relief camps have been set up in flood-hit Chiplun city in Ratnagiri district. 25 teams of the NDRF, four teams of the SDRF, two teams of the Coast Guard, five teams of the Navy and three teams of the Army are conducting the relief and rescue operations,” the statement said.
As the bridge over the Vashishthi river connecting Chiplun to Mumbai has collapsed, the road remains shut for the traffic. The state government has provided a emergency financial aid of Rs 2 crore each to Raigad and Ratnagiri districts. Satara, Sangli, Pune, Kolhapur, Thane and Sindhudurg, also affected by rains, were provided with a financial aid of Rs 50 lakh each, the statement said.
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Source: News18