Fifteen NDRF teams deployed in Maharashtra in view of heavy rain prediction '

Fifteen National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams have been positioned in various parts of Maharashtra because of the prediction of heavy rains in certain parts of the state, the force chief said on Thursday.

Four teams have been based in Ratnagiri, two each in Mumbai, Sindhudurg, Palghar, Raigad, Thane, and one in Kurla (east Mumbai suburb), NDRF Director General S N Pradhan said in a tweet.

He said the teams are being pre-deployed or positioned at these locations at the request of the state government that acted in response to the prediction of heavy rains made by the India Metrological Department (IMD).

An NDRF team usually has 47 personnel and they are equipped with inflatable boats, wood, and pole cutters, and basic first aid kits to rescue rains and floods affected victims and launch relief operations.

Heavy rains lashed Mumbai and its suburbs on Wednesday, causing flooding on roads and rail tracks and disrupting suburban train services as the southwest monsoon arrived in the city.

The weather department also issued a 'red alert' for Mumbai, neighboring Thane, Palghar, and Raigad districts, warning of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places there.

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