Maharashtra rains: Death toll from landslides and floods rises to 112, NDRF, Army rescue thousands from affected areas

(Credits: IANS)

New Delhi: As many as 112 people lost their lives, 99 still missing due to incessant rainfall in Maharashtra till Saturday (July 24, 2021) night, said the Relief and Rehabilitation Department. The heavy downpour has forced about 1.35 lakh people to evacuate from the flood-affected areas, according to the state government's data. "As per the data of July 24 at 9.30 pm, about 1 lakh 35 thousand people have been evacuated from the flood-affected areas. A total of 112 deaths have been reported and 3221 animals have died. A total of 53 people were injured and 99 are missing," said Relief and Rehabilitation Department.

Floodwater has entered the roads and fields, submerging many areas of the Sangli district in Maharashtra. The locals of the area have been alerting the passersby of the rising water levels. "Situation is not okay. Water is receding towards Samdoli now. Many cars are also stuck here," said a local, Sumit. "We are sitting here to ensure that floodwater doesn`t enter Samdoli. If water goes beyond here, our daily route will be shut," another villager, Pramod was quoted by ANI as saying.

NDRF teams rescued 1,800 stranded people:

On Saturday, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said it has retrieved 52 bodies from sites of landslides, rescued 1,800 stranded people, and evacuated 87 others to safer places in Maharashtra, which has witnessed floods due to heavy rains. 

An extensive search is on for missing persons, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said in a statement, adding that rescue and relief operations are being run in Maharashtra`s Raigad, Ratnagiri and Satara districts. For immediate response during the flood in any part of the country, 149 NDRF teams have been deployed or prepositioned, the force said.

The force officials also added that, in addition to this, over eight teams are being airlifted to Maharashtra, four each from Kolkata and Vadodara.

Army efforts under Operation Varsha:

The Army under Operation Varsha has mobilised columns for flood relief in Maharashtra and has taken over 100 people to safe locations. A total of 15 flood relief teams from Aundh Military Station and Bombay Engineering Group, Pune have been deployed for flood relief and rescue operations in Sangli, Palus, Burli, and Chiplun, as per a press release issued by the Army. 

The army is also providing cooked meals and drinking water in tankers to the locals and set up medical camps wherein medical teams of Army Doctors and Nursing Assistants have been deployed to provide necessary first aid and medicines to locals being evacuated from flood-affected areas.

Government announced ex-gratia, free ration: 

The state government has announced financial assistance of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of the victims, while the Central government has announced Rs 2 lakh each. Besides, ration kits including rice, pulses and kerosene will be distributed in affected areas, said Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar.

Additionally, Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the worst-hit Taliye village near Mahad, where more than 50 people perished under a hillslide on Friday.

Meanwhile, the worst-hit districts were Kolhapur, Raigad, Sangli, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sindhudurg, Mumbai and Thane, hitting a total of 890 villages.

(With agency inputs)