Friday, March 29, 2024

Maharashtra monsoons: at least 112 dead, 99 missing

The death toll in Maharashtra from heavy monsoon rains climbed to 115, with nearly 90,000 people evacuated, according to state officials.

The number is likely to increase as rescue teams are finding more bodies, particularly from the landslide site at Mahad taluka in Raigad district. According to Indian Express, forty-two bodies have been recovered from the site and 39 people are still missing. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited Taliye village in Mahad, where a landslide had buried homes.

Parts of county’s west coast received up to 594mm (23in) of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing authorities to evacuate people from vulnerable areas as they released water from dams that were threatening to overflow.

Hundreds of villages and towns were without electricity and drinking water.

At least 38 people were killed in Taliye, when a landslide flattened most of the small village, state officials said.

In nine other landslides in other parts of Maharashtra 59 people died and another 15 were killed in accidents linked to the heavy rainfall, they said.

A statement issued by the state government’s relief and rehabilitation department said apart from 112 people dying, 99 are missing and 53 have sustained injuries. Rescue teams have evacuated 1.5 lakh people so far. Six relief camps have been opened in Ratnagiri.

The state officials further said that apart from Navy, Coast Guard and Air Force, more Army personnel are reaching the flood-hit areas. The defence forces are using their own boats – separate from the 59 boats that NDRF and the state disaster response force have deployed.

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