Western Maharashtra, Konkan hit by floods, Mumbai’s milk supply likely to get affected

Following incessant rain for two days and water released from dams, several areas of western Maharashtra and Konkan regions were flooded on Tuesday.

National and state highways were shut and thousands of families were shifted from many tehsils in Kolhapur and Sangli districts to safer places.

The state administration has requested for more teams from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), Coast Guard and Navy for rescue and relief operations.

The supply of milk to Mumbai, with most of the 65 lakh pouches supplied to the city coming from the dairy cooperatives in the western parts of the state, is likely to be affected by the shutting down of the state and national highways.

According to state government officials, 61,019 people from 13,996 families in flood-affected districts have been evacuated in the past few days.

This includes 31,782 citizens and 9,728 cattle from 6,526 families in Shirala, Palus, Miraj tehsils of Sangli, who were shifted to safe places by the district administration.

Six teams of 160 personnel each from the NDRF have been engaged in rescue and evacuation operations in flood-affected districts in western Maharashtra. The state administration has requested for five more NDRF teams for these districts. “We have requested for Army and Navy teams to aid rescue operations in the flood-affected district. By tomorrow, we expect to get additional teams. We have been taking stock of the situation constantly and the district administrations have been directed to be on their toes,” said Abhay Yavalkar, director, disaster management unit of the state government.

There was no power supply in many parts of Pune, Kolhapur and Sangli, while the supply of essential commodities was disrupted in this part of Western Maharashtra. District collectors have announced a holiday for schools and colleges on Wednesday. The telephone and mobile services in parts of these districts have been affected for the past couple of days. The electricity connections of 85,523 families in Kolhapur district was suspended as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, the Pune-Bengaluru national highway was shut for traffic near Shirol and Kini owing to waterlogging.

Heavy rainfall in Pune, Kolhapur and Sangli and discharge of water from various dams led to the flooding in many tehsils of these districts over the past two days. Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis spoke to his Karnataka counterpart BS Yediyurappa, requesting him for an increase in the discharge from Allmatti dam, so as to ensure more outflow from the dams in Maharashtra. As a result, the Karnataka government has started discharge of 4 lakh cusecs from the dam. The Karnataka CM, in turn, has requested Maharashtra to not increase the discharge from Koyna dam. The state administration is expected to shift families from Pandharpur in Solapur district in the next few days as the discharge of water from Veer and Ujani dam will lead to a rise in the water level in rivers.

First Published: Aug 07, 2019 00:25 IST