PremiumAs many as 136 deaths due to monsoon and rain-related incidents were reported in Maharashtra until Friday evening, said state minister of relief and rehabilitation Vijay Wadettiwar.
The toll includes 48 people who were killed in landslides in Raigad district's Talai village. Further, the death toll in the Satara district has been estimated at 27.
Other fatalities included those reported from eastern districts such as Gondia and Chandrapur. Besides landslides, several people were swept away in floodwaters.
This comes even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Friday evening issued a fresh red alert for Satara, forecasting "extremely heavy rainfall" in the next 24 hours in the hilly ghat areas of this Western Maharashtra district.
The Met department also issued an orange alert for Pune and Kolhapur districts. The region is being battered by incessant rains for the last two days.
At least 39 roads including 10 state highways are closed for traffic due to the floods.
Due to this, a large number of goods vehicles are stranded on the Kolhapur highway.
"We are stuck here since last night. The mobile network has been affected too. We cannot even get tea here," a truck driver was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
Rescue operations
Officials in Western Maharashtra's Pune division said on Friday that 84,452 people, including over 40,000 in Kolhapur district, were shifted to safer places.
As many as 40,882 persons have been shifted from flood-affected areas in Kolhapur district alone.
Further, officials said that 54 villages were completed affected due to the floods while 821 were partially affected.
The Panchganga river near the Kolhapur city was flowing at 55.08 feet at the Rajaram weir near the Kolhapur city around 9 pm -- a level higher than that witnessed during the peak of floods in 2019.
An official from the district disaster management cell said that during the devastating floods of 2019, the highest level of the river at the same spot was 55.7 feet.
"A total of 262 villages are affected by floods. 34 are fully affected while 228 are partially hit. So far, 9,917 families, comprising 40,882 people, have been shifted to safer places," he added.
Over 15,000 livestock animals have also been taken to safety.
A National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team carried out rescue and relief operations in the flood-affected lower Chiplun area in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri district on Saturday.
The Indian Army has also mobilised teams to Maharashtra under 'Operation Varsha' for flood relief in the state.
A total of 15 relief and rescue teams comprising troops from Aundh Military Station and Bombay Engineer Group based at Pune have been deployed overnight in affected areas of Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sangli districts of the state.
The Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy based on requests received for assistance from civil authorities has deployed a total of seven Naval Flood Rescue Teams (FRT) from Mumbai to Ratnagiri and Raigad districts.
Also, Maharashtra Coast Guard has pressed two disaster relief teams (DRTs), one each Mahad and Chiplun, besides pressing a helicopter into rescue operations. "These teams are working in tandem with the local administration and have rescued 52 people so far and shifted them to safe locations," the Coast Guard said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray on Friday announced ex-gratia of 5 lakh each for the kin of those who lost their lives in the landslides caused by torrential rainfall in various parts of the state.
According to the Chief Minister's Office (CMO), the state will also incur the costs of treatment for those injured.
"CM Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray has announced ₹5 lakh each for the kin of those who lost their lives in the landslides caused by torrential rainfall. The state will also incur the costs of treatment for those injured," CMO wrote in a tweet.
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