Heavy rains, lightning kill 13 in Maharashtra; over 40 people rescued

At least 13 people died in heavy showers, floods and lightning in parts of Maharashtra with the Marathwada region bearing the brunt of rain fury, while more than 40 stranded villagers were rescued after the NDRF was mobilised and helicopters were deployed, officials said on Tuesday.

Besides, more than 200 cattle perished and a number of houses were damaged in torrential rains that lashed Marathwada on Sunday and Monday, causing havoc in a region which is considered a perennially drought-plagued area, they said.

Parts of the region and Mumbai received heavy showers on Tuesday also.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 'extremely heavy rains' at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra in the next 24 hours.

The Marathwada region in central Maharashtra which faced rain fury comprises eight districts - Aurangabad, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Jalna and Hingoli.

Heavy rainfall in catchment areas of the Manjara dam forced authorities to open all 18 gates of the reservoir to discharge water on Tuesday, which led to flooding in some villages in Beed district while an alert was sounded in some neighbouring districts, the officials said.

The local administration opened all 18 gates of the Manjara dam and 11 gates of the Majalgaon dam, resulting in discharge of 78,397 cusec 80,534 cusec water from them, respectively, they said.

An official from the disaster management department said in Mumbai that 13 people have died due to heavy rains and lightning in parts of Maharashtra, while 136 others have received injuries.

Of these 13 deaths, 12 were reported from Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and one from North Maharashtra's Nashik district, the official said.

Of the 12 deaths, three were reported from Yavatmal district (in Vidarbha), two each from Beed, Osmanabad, Parbhani (Marathwada) and one each from Jalna, Latur (Marathwada) and Buldhana (Vidarbha) , he said.

In Nashik district, a lightning strike killed one person and injured four others, the official said.

In Yavatmal district, one person died and three others were missing after a state transport bus got swept away while crossing a flooded bridge on Tuesday morning, he said.

The incident took place around 8 am at Dahagaon bridge in Umarkhed tehsil when the semi-luxury bus of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) was going from Nagpur to Nanded.

The bus got swept away for about 50 metres while passing through the bridge, which was flooded following heavy rains in the area, and then overturned, the official said.

With this, 434 people have been killed in rain-related incidents in the state since June 1, he said.

A total of 205 animals, including 60 large milch animals, were washed away or perished in the heavy rains over the last two days.

''With this, the total loss of livestock, including cows, buffaloes and goats, has increased up to 1,632. As many as 91,510 poultry birds are also estimated to be died in heavy rains (both figures since June 1),” the official said.

Besides, 28 houses, including 25 kutcha (thatched) ones, were partially or fully damaged. Among the damaged houses, 11 were located in Aurangabad, 12 in Beed and five in Jalna, another official said.

The heavy rain and flood have damaged crops on several acres of agricultural land in the region, he said.

''Since yesterday (Monday), the Water Resources Department has been monitoring the situation closely. We are trying to minimise the damage,'' Water Resources Minister Jayant Patil told reporters in Beed.

The administration will provide all possible relief to people, the minister said. National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams and choppers were deployed in parts of Marathwada to rescue stranded people. One team of the State Disaster Response Force has also been deployed in Jalgaon district in North Maharashtra, the official said.

An NDRF team, a helicopter and boats were deployed on Tuesday to rescue people stranded in barrages, villages and on the banks of a river in Latur district, which was lashed by heavy rains through the day.

While 25 out of 40 people stranded on the banks of Manjara river at Sarsa village have been rescued using boats, efforts were on to get the rest 15 to safety, an official said.

He added that three people stranded on a river basin in Digol Deshmukh area in Renapur tehsil have been also rescued.

Three employees of the state Irrigation Department were stuck in the Ghansargaon village barrage, and an NDRF team as well as a helicopter have been brought in help local personnel with the rescue effort, said District Disaster Management Officer Sakeb Usmani.

As many as 16 persons stranded in floodwaters were rescued by the NDRF using a helicopter in Osmanabad district, officials said.

Six persons, including two children, were rescued by the helicopter from Dautpur village in Osmanabad tehsil, while ten persons were evacuated from Saundane Amba village in Kalamb tehsil.

The collector of Latur district, Prithviraj B P, told PTI that a family of three, including a child, was reportedly stranded at Pohregaon in Renapur tehsil, but rescue teams could not reach the spot due to bad weather and low visibility.

''We are trying other ways to rescue them. The helicopter has halted in Latur. It will fly tomorrow morning to rescue them,'' he said.

Heavy rains also lashed Mumbai and suburbs on Tuesday, but no major water-logging is reported so far and public transport services, including suburban trains, also remained unaffected, officials said.

A civic official said no incident of a major water-logging was reported despite heavy showers in Mumbai. Public transport services are also running normally, he added.

''It's raining heavily in suburban and ghat sections. But, local and long-distance trains are running as per time table,'' Shivaji Sutar, chief public relations officer, Central Railway said.

Meanwhile, Water Resources Minister Patil said it is the government's duty to provide relief to farmers and it will do so.

He made the comments at Ambajogai in Beed district while consoling a farmer, whose crops have been damaged in rains.

Patil is on a Marathwada tour as part of his party NCP's ''Ratrashwadi Parivar Samvad Yatra'' and during the tour, he reviewed the flood situation in Beed district and interacted with farmers. While Patil was holding a meeting with party activists at Ambajogai, an elderly farmer along with his grandson came to see him.

The farmer was carrying a bunch of damaged soybean crop that was damaged due to heavy rains in Marathwada.

After listening to his plight, Patil consoled him.

''Don't worry, the government is with you,'' Patil told the farmer and added an assessment of crop damage has been ordered.

The NCP leader told the farmer that Beed's guardian minister Dhananjay Munde is reviewing the flood situation and damage caused to crops.

''Extremely heavy rains'' are expected at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of Konkan in the next 24 hours, the IMD said in Mumbai on Tuesday evening.

K S Hosalikar, senior scientist at IMD Mumbai, said, “The remnants of Gulab cyclone will continue to have its impact on Marathwada, Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan with few places receiving extremely heavy rainfall.

''The northern parts of Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra will receive more showers on Wednesday as well,'' he said.

''Extremely heavy rainfall'' means precipitation of more than 204.5 mm in 24 hours.

“There is low pressure area of Gulab cyclone now. As it is moving towards Arabian sea, its effect on Maharashtra will decrease from Thursday,” he said.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)