Mumbai, Aug 19 (IANS) – At least eight people have lost their lives due to relentless rains and flooding across Maharashtra, even as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has warned of extremely heavy showers in Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar until August 21.
Rain battered most parts of the state on Sunday and Monday, and the downpour is expected to continue in Mumbai for the next two days before easing by Friday. Authorities have urged residents to step out only if necessary.
In Nanded district alone, five people have died and six remain missing, while nearly 150 cattle have perished. Rescue teams have saved 293 people trapped in floodwaters, with the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and Army units deployed in Mukhed. One person each died in Beed and Akola districts, while another fatality was reported after a retaining wall collapsed at Shimla House on Malabar Hill in South Mumbai. The deceased was identified as Satish Tirke.
Meanwhile, search operations continue for 24-year-old Vardan Janjotar, who fell into the Mithi River from the BKC bridge in Bandra.
The state’s disaster management control room said over 300 people have been evacuated to safer locations. Preliminary estimates suggest 4.5 lakh hectares of farmland have been damaged, with turmeric, cotton, and soybean crops worst hit. Six to seven villages in Nanded’s Mukhed taluka are reeling under flood-like conditions after a cloudburst, while an NDRF team was dispatched to Kaudgaon in Beed district on Monday.
Several rivers, including Jagbudi, Shastri, and Kodavali in Ratnagiri and the Kundalika in Raigad, have crossed danger levels. In Vidarbha, about two lakh hectares of crops are estimated to be damaged, while 2.59 lakh hectares in Marathwada (Nanded and Beed) have been affected.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis reviewed the situation on Monday, directing revenue, emergency, and police agencies to remain on high alert and intensify relief work.
In Mumbai, traffic was paralysed throughout Monday due to waterlogging in several low-lying areas. Suburban train services slowed down, and school buses were stranded, leaving students stranded. According to the IMD, Colaba received 45.2 mm of rainfall and Santa Cruz 123.9 mm between 8.30 a.m. and 5.30 p.m. on Monday, while Thane recorded 101.4 mm.
The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation declared a half-day holiday for schools on Monday, while schools and colleges in Mumbai, Thane, and Navi Mumbai remained shut on Tuesday. District Collectors have been authorised to take decisions on declaring further holidays based on local weather conditions.
