At least 27 people have died in rain-related incidents in Solapur, Sangli and Pune districts of western Maharashtra, officials said on Thursday. Over 20,000 people were evacuated to safer places in these three districts. Mumbai too witnessed waterlogging after overnight rains on Thursday.
“A total of 27 people have died due to rain-related incidents in Solapur, Sangli and Pune districts since Wednesday. Fourteen casualties are from Solapur district, nine from Sangli and four from Pune district,” said an official from the Pune Divisional Commissioner’s office.
The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) began rescue work in Pandharpur, where six people died in wall collapse on Wednesday, while over 6,000 people from 500 families were evacuated in Solapur.
In Pune, the police retrieved three bodies, including that of a woman, after four people on two two-wheelers were washed away in Daund taluk while trying to cross a small bridge on a stream. Two NDRF teams stationed in Maval taluk have been deployed for rescue and rehabilitation efforts. While one team reached Pandharpur, the other was pressed into action in Latur in Marathwada.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray chaired a meeting to take a review of the flood situation and asked the State administration, Army, Navy and Air Force to be on high alert to tackle any emergency in parts of western Maharashtra and Marathwada.
In a statement, the Chief Minister’s Office said, “NDRF teams have been stationed in Osmanabad, Solapur, Pandharpur and Baramati.” The Chief Minister asked the administration to avoid loss of life, property and agriculture and expeditiously carry out assessment of the losses caused by the rains. He also directed the local administration to provide financial aid to the kin of those who lost their lives in the wall collapse in Pandharpur.
Thousands marooned
Relentless overnight rain led to massive property damage in Solapur and Pune districts, with thousands of villagers marooned by rising floodwaters in rural Solapur.
Rising levels of Sina river have affected residents in at least 100 villages in Madha and Mohol taluks in Solapur, with several livestock being washed away by the floodwaters. The Vakav village was entirely cut-off from the rest of the district by the swollen waters of Sina river.
As per the Solapur district administration, at least 1,000 people were evacuated from Pandharpur on Wednesday night. Authorities of the Vitthal-Rukmini temple trust said it would take the responsibility of feeding and lodging those evacuated from their homes.
Two lakh cusecs of water were discharged from Ujjani dam since 10 p.m. last night. With rains providing a temporary reprieve to Solapur in the morning, the discharge has been reduced to one lakh cusecs. The rains have compelled authorities to shut traffic on Pune-Solapur road, as well as roads connecting Solapur to other districts like Bijapur in neighbouring Karnataka.
Intense and continuous showers saw an alarming rise in the water levels of all major rivers in western Maharashtra: the Panchganga in Kolhapur rose by seven feet, owing to massive rainfall throughout Wednesday night, while the Krishna river level in Sangli has risen by five feet in just three hours. All main roads in Sangli have been closed for traffic as a precautionary measure.
In Pune, overnight showers caused damage to property in the city with furious rainwaters mangling scores of two-wheelers parked in the open. In Baramati in rural Pune, a flood-like situation prevails as several residents have moved to higher grounds for safety. The rains have led the Savitribai Phule Pune University to postpone the final year examinations scheduled for Thursday.
As per a notification put up on the varsity’s website, authorities said it was postponing the online and offline exams given the flood-like situation and the fact that the civic administration had issued a cyclone and heavy rainfall alert. They said the revised schedule would be announced soon.
In Pune city, Katraj-Sinhagad Road, Sahakarnagar and Shivajinagar areas were badly hit with water entering houses, including Patil hospital on Sinhagad road.
Rainwater swept into the Chandan Nagar police station on old Mundhwa road, with personnel spending the intervening night between Wednesday and Thursday in cleaning up operations.
PMC to blame, says Sule
Baramati MP and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Supriya Sule visited the worst-hit areas in Katraj in Pune city later in the day. Hitting out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) controlled-Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), Ms. Sule said it was responsible for the deplorable state of the city’s public works. She said, “A similar situation occurred last year in which more than 20 people lost their lives owing to intense bouts of rain. But it appears that the PMC has not grown any wiser and is not expending sufficient funds to improve the city’s anti-rain infrastructure.”
BJP leader and Pune Mayor Murlidhar Mohol said that no one ought to play politics over natural calamities. He said, “The BJP has only been in power for the last three years in the PMC. It was the NCP and Congress who were in power for the past two decades in the civic body. So, why weren’t any repairs carried out then?”
(With PTI inputs)