Heavy Rains Unleash Havoc In West, South India
Jul 24, 2021 | Pratirodh Bureau
This handout photo taken on July 22, 2021 by the Indian Air Force shows villages in low-lying areas inundated with flood water after heavy monsoon rains in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra (Photo Credit: PTI)
The toll includes 38 deaths in a landslide in Talai village in coastal Raigad district’s Mahad tehsil on Thursday, he told PTI. Besides landslides, several people were swept away in floodwaters.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi condoled the loss of lives in Raigad district and announced an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased. The situation is being closely monitored, he said.
In addition, three people lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Karnataka and two are missing, with the state government sounding a red alert in seven districts.
It issued a red alert for six districts of Maharashtra too, forecasting “extremely heavy” rainfall and recommending preventive actions. The alert was issued for Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan and also for Pune, Satara and Kolhapur in western Maharashtra.
Several parts of Goa, including Sattari and Bicholim tehsils in the north and Dharbandora in the south, are reeling under a flood-like situation, and a large number of houses were inundated as the water level of some rivers rose following heavy rains over the past few days.
Heavy rains in various parts of Karnataka over the past 24 hours have claimed three lives, led to landslides in eight places and evacuation of about 9,000 people.
The Indian Coast Guard said that it conducted a day-long rescue operation in the flood-hit Uttara Kannada District and rescued 161 people from Kharejoog and Bodojoog Islands.
The Indian Railways cancelled a few trains due to landslides between Sonalium-Kulem, and Dudhsagar-Caranzol.
The rivers Krishna, Cauvery, Tungabhadra, Bhima, Kapila (Kabini) and many others in Malnad and coastal Karnataka are in spate, an official said, sharing details that showed 131 villages in 18 taluks are badly hit, affecting 16,213 people.
In Telangana, several low-lying areas faced inundation and road links were disrupted following heavy rains during the last two days.
The weatherman has predicted partly cloudy skies with the possibility of thundery development for Saturday. The IMD has issued an orange alert for July 26 and has forecast generally cloudy skies with moderate rain and thundershowers accompanied with gusty winds of up to 30-40 km/hr. It has also issued a yellow alert for July 27.
In Uttar Pradesh, monsoon rains lashed Jhansi, Mainpuri, Firozabad, Shahjahanpur, Bareilly, Bahraich, Kannauj, Etah, Lalitpur, Jaunpur, Kheri, Ambedkar Nagar, Sitapur, Hamirpur, Aligarh, Pilibhit and Jalaun on Friday.
The weather office said rain and thundershowers are very likely at a few places over western Uttar Pradesh and at isolated places over the eastern part of the state on Saturday.
In Punjab, Amritsar recorded a maximum of 34.8 degrees Celsius, Ludhiana 33.5 degrees Celsius, Patiala 34.7 degrees Celsius and Faridkot 32.5 degrees Celsius.
In its weather warning, the IMD said isolated extremely heavy rainfall is very likely over Konkan, Goa and central Maharashtra in the next two days.