Mumbai, Aug 19 (PTI) Rains pummelled most parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday, leaving 10 persons dead, bringing Mumbai to a near standstill, damaging properties and crops, and prompting the authorities to shift
hundreds to safer locations.
Apart from paralysing Mumbai and its metropolitan region, where train services and flight operations were affected, heavy rainfall battered Gadchiroli in Vidarbha region and Nanded in Marathwada region, among other districts.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reviewed the flood situation with the disaster management department, said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, which remain on high alert.
Eight persons have died in Maharashtra's Nanded district which witnessed flooding due to a cloudburst-like situation, while Mumbai received a record rainfall of around 300 mm, the CM said.
He said crops spread across 12 to 14 lakh acres of land suffered damages due to heavy rains.
Coordination was being done with neighbouring states for the management of discharge from dams. "The uncontrolled catchment areas are a worry," he said.
The district collectors have been authorised to take decisions on financial aid to the affected persons for cattle loss, house damage and loss of lives, as per the NDRF rules. The administration has been asked to conduct panchnamas (spot inspection) for crop losses, he added.
As heavy downpour continued overnight, the low-lying areas were inundated in Mumbai, affecting the suburban train service, prompting the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation to declare a holiday for all government and semi-government offices.
The Bombay High Court, which operates from 11 am to 5 pm, functioned only till 12.30 due to heavy rains.
Schools and colleges were also shut in view of the 'red alert' warning issued by the India Meteorological Department (IMD), which forecast extremely heavy showers at isolated places in Mumbai and neighbouring districts on Tuesday.
The Directorate of Higher Education declared a holiday for all senior colleges in the Konkan region, applicable to institutions in Palghar, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts.
The downpour affected the aviation sector as at least eight flights were diverted and many were delayed.
A Monorail train with at least 200 passengers on board came to a halt due to apparent power failure between Mysore Colony and Bhakti Park stations in Mumbai amid heavy rains in the evening, The passengers who were rescued said panic prevailed inside the train, which runs on an elevated track, with several people complaining of suffocation as the AC system shut down.
Local train services were delayed, and the public transport buses in Mumbai were diverted at a few locations due to submerged roads, as per officials.
The Central Railway suspended its local train services on the Harbour Line between Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Terminus and Kurla stations due to submergence of tracks in a section after heavy rains.
It also suspended services on its main line between Kurla and Sion stations as the rail tracks got waterlogged, they said.
The Mithi river in Mumbai reached the danger-level mark and 400 to 500 persons had to be evacuated, Fadnavis said.
Several parts of Mumbai received more than 200 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours, with Vikhroli in the eastern suburbs reporting the highest downpour at 255.5 mm, the IMD said.
More than 1,100 people were moved to safer locations in Maharashtra's Thane and Palghar after torrential rains disrupted normal life and inundated parts of the two adjacent districts.
More than 290 people were rescued from the flood-hit villages of Nanded district over the last two days, with the State Disaster Response Force and the Army deployed in the region.
Seven persons travelling in an autorickshaw and a car got swept away on a flooded Mukhed-Udgir Road around 1.40 am. Local rescue teams have managed to save three men, while a search is underway for a man and three women, an official said.
According to meteorologists, the torrential rains were triggered by a low-pressure area over the Bay of Bengal and the strengthening of monsoon winds.
"The system has activated a trough extending from north Konkan to Kerala. This has triggered very heavy to extremely heavy rains over Konkan, central Maharashtra and the ghats, while the rest of the state is witnessing moderate showers," said S D Sanap, senior scientist of the India Meteorological Department, Pune.
The IMD has forecast intense rainfall for Konkan, including Mumbai, and parts of central Maharashtra for the next two days, while an orange alert has been sounded in Marathwada and Vidarbha, where the intensity of rainfall is expected to reduce to a yellow alert later this week.
Deputy CM Ajit Pawar said incessant showers submerged nearly 10 lakh hectares of agricultural land in the state.
The damage assessment will commence once the rains subside, he said.
In Gadchiroli, incessant rain since Monday evening inundated low-lying areas and disrupted connectivity.
A 19-year-old youth from Kodpe village in Bhamragad taluka in Gadchiroli district died after he was swept away while crossing a swollen stream, officials said. In Chandrapur, a 45-year-old man, a resident of Borgaon (Dhande) village, fell off the Bhadravati bridge and died on Tuesday.
Major rivers in Washim are in spate for the fourth consecutive day, damaging thousands of hectares of kharif crops. PTI COR KK ND COR CLS AW DC MR SPK GK ARU RSY KRK PR NP
