Still missing in Konkan: 50 people, besides food, water, medicines

NAVI MUMBAI: The rain-wrecked Konkan belt of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts saw its death toll rise to 83 while 50 remained missing on Sunday. Flood and landslide deaths across the state rose to 149 while the missing numbered 64.

CM Uddhav Thackeray visited some of the affected parts and learnt that the locals were still asking for food, water, medicines and fodder for animals.
“There is massive shortage of food and water for the locals,” Rajendra Shinde, a Chiplun (Ratnagiri) resident, said. “Animals suffer from non-availability of fodder. Doctors are unavailable in the township but the administration is claiming arrival of medical teams. Even muddy roads have not been cleaned.”
Amid the chaos, there was confusion over the number of missing too, as the Mantralaya control room figure of 64 was contradicted by the CM’s office, which counted 100 people as missing in the 72 hours till Sunday evening.
The Mantralaya control room said 35 of the total 64 missing were from the worst-affected Raigad district, where 60 people died and 28 were injured.
A landslide in Taliye village of Raigad following incessant rain on Thursday was the major killer, claiming 53 persons. The missing figure in Taliye was 31. With 45 houses destroyed, survivors were complaining about lack of food, water and medical help.
Tribals of Taliye, which is in Mahad taluka, said an earthquake 14 years ago had resulted in a crack in a hillock, causing the latest landslide, but authorities did not confirm the claim. “No tremor related crack record is available in the administration records,” Raigad additional SP Sachin Gunjal said.
An official said most of the missing would be cases of people buried in landslides or washed away in the flood waters. The official said chances of survival after four days were slim. Another official said the rescue operations had not stopped, with NDRF, SDRF, army, navy and coast guard teams still at work in affectd districts. A total of 2,29,074 people have been evacuated from their homes — 1,200 of these were from Ratnagiri, 1,000 from Raigad, 1,271 from Sindhudurg and 1,69,998 from Sangli.
“A one-and-a-half-year-old male child is still missing at the Pedhegaon landslide site, Chiplun,” inspector Ram Yadav of the NDRF said.
In the MMR, local train services on the Karjat-Khopoli section, shut for over three days, were restored on Sunday.