PremiumOver 1,000 people from 20 villages in Raigad were shifted to safer places after a red alert was sounded in the Maharashtra district, officials said on Thursday.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of heavy to extremely rainfall till Friday in the district.
Raigad has received an average rainfall of 58 mm in the last 24 hours, collector Nidhi Choudhary said in a release. She said in view of the prediction of heavy downpour, a red alert has been issued in the district for Thursday and Friday and an orange alert for 12 and 13 June.
Since there is a risk of landslides due to heavy rains, 1,139 people from 20 villages have been shifted to safer places, she said.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) had on Saturday confirmed the arrival of the southwest monsoon in Maharashtra at Harnai in the coastal Ratnagiri district.
NDRF teams on vigil
In view of the IMD's warning about heavy to extremely heavy rainfall in the Konkan region of Maharashtra between 11 and 15 June, the state government on Wednesday requested the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) to send 12 teams to five coastal districts.
The State Disaster Management Authority of the state government requested the Commandant of the NDRF to depute the teams in Thane, Raigad, Palghar, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts by the afternoon of 10 June.
The authority sought four NDRF teams in the Ratnagiri district and two teams each in other districts, said the official communication to the NDRF, which was shared to media by Palghar district collector Manik Gursal.
"Collectors of these districts are requested to make all logistical arrangements for the NDRF teams in consonance with the regulations of social distancing and sanitation as issued by the central and the state government," read the request letter issued by K Suryakrishnamurty, Under Secretary of the Disaster Management Unit of the state government.
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