Torrential rain claims 15 lives in Maha; Army, boats pressed into service in Pune

(Roundup)

BILKULONLINE

Mumbai/Pune, July 25: At least 15 persons were killed in rain-related incidents as heavy rain wreaked havoc in Pune, Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, and adjoining regions in the past 24 hours, with the Indian Army helping civil agencies in the rescue operations, officials said here on Thursday.

Large parts of Pune and the district were submerged in flood waters as the state’s academic, IT, and cultural capital witnessed incessant heavy rain overnight, with schools shut and boats deployed to help out the people. The city Fire Brigade, police, SDRF, and NDRF teams along with other agencies were rushed to many areas to rescue people who woke up on Thursday to find themselves surrounded by 3-5 feet deep waters. The rescuers deployed rubber dinghies and ropes to bring out scores of people stuck in their homes or shops or rooftops with the waters inundating their dwellings up to the ground floor ceiling in some buildings, while almost all local reservoirs, big and small dams were overflowing, with most rivers in spate.

The NDRF launched a major rescue operation in Nimbaj Nagar, Deccan Gymkhana, and Sinhagad Road areas which were among the worst-hit as water rushed into homes, shops, and other establishments as the city received over 200 mm rain in the past 24 hours. The situation was compounded by over 40,000 cusecs water being discharged from the overflowing Khadakwasla Dam, said Union MoS for Civil Aviation, Murlidhar Mohol, who is the Pune MP. Angry locals slammed the government for allegedly opening the Khadakwasla Dam floodgates to the Mula-Mutha River basins at around 4 a.m. without prior notice which could have enabled the people to rush to safer areas. Almost across the city, roads, streets, and lanes were littered with two-wheelers and four-wheelers, uprooted trees or branches, and other debris stuck in the flood waters with people wading in waist-to-neck deep water, frantically attempting to save their belongings. Major thoroughfares like the Bhide Bridge, Holkar Bridge, Sangam Bridge, the Khillare Complex near Garware College, and a bridge opposite the PMC office were shut for traffic as the rivers below were in a raging flow. Elsewhere, the twin hill stations of Khandala-Lonavala, Pimpri-Chinchwad, Mulshi, Khed, Bhor, Maval, Haveli, Baramati, and the elite Lavasa city, among others, received very heavy rain measuring over 300 mm in the past 24 hours.

In many areas of Pune city and other towns, the rescue agencies and police appealed to people to remain indoors, and those stranded in multi-storied buildings were urged to remain there. Electricity in some areas was cut off as a precaution, compounding people’s woes. Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar spoke with Collector Suhas Diwase, and spent several hours visiting some of the worst-hit areas where he encountered angry citizens, some in tears as they recounted their losses and how some had not eaten even a morsel since Wednesday night. At least 15 persons lost their lives in different rain-linked tragedies in Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Pune, and Chandrapur during the day, said officials.

Three persons were killed in Pune city following electrocution while another three are feared to have perished in their posh villas after a hillslide in the Lavasa city in Mulshi. Another person was crushed in a landslide at Maval in Pune district, a man drowned in Raigad, a man was killed in a fire ignited by a short-circuit in a Mumbai building, a man was killed in a landslide, three others were killed in lightning strikes in Chandrapur, while two persons drowned in the Barvi dam in Thane. The victims in Pune have been identified as Shiva Jidbahadur Pariyar (18), a Nepali youth, Akash V. Mane (21), and Abhishek A. Ghanekar (25).

A youth named Kamlakar Mhatre drowned in Raigad; a senior citizen named Mahendra Shah (70) lost his life in the Mumbai incident, while the identity of those killed in Chandrapur and Thane are yet to be ascertained. In a major disaster, a hillslide triggered by heavy rain in Lavasa city buried three villas on Thursday morning, in which at least three persons are feared to have perished under the debris even as the NDRF launched a rescue effort. Amid the tragedies was the miraculous rescue of two persons – who were trapped in a car in flood waters and screaming for help – using a crane in Panvel town in Raigad, while large areas of Kalyan and Ulhasnagar (both in Thane) were submerged under 2-4 feet water as rain lashed the region. While all educational institutions in Pune and Raigad were shut for the day (Thursday), schools and colleges shall remain closed on Friday in Thane, Palghar, Raigad, Pune, Ratnagiri, and Sindhudurg. Parts of Pune notched record rainfall in the past 12 hours: Lavasa (454 mm), Lonavala (323 mm), Nimgiri (233 mm), Malin (181 mm), Chinchwad (175 mm), Talegaon and Khadakwasla (168 mm), Lavale (167 mm), while other areas received between 50 mm and 150 mm rain. The average rainfall for Pune was 115 mm, as intermittent rain continued.

The BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) said that Mumbai received an average of 64 mm rainfall from 8 a.m. till 6 p.m. on Thursday, giving more than 61 per cent water stocks in the reservoirs that quench the city’s thirst round the year. In view of satisfactory rain in the catchment areas of the seven lakes — Upper Vaitarna, Middle Vaitarna, Tansa, Bhatsa, Vihar, Modaksagar, and Tulsi, which supply drinking water to Mumbai — the BMC shall withdraw the 10 per cent water cut from Monday (July 29). Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CMs Devendra Fadnavis, and Ajit Pawar are personally monitoring the rain crises in Pune, Raigad, Mumbai, Thane, and other parts of the state. Since dawn, the SDRF and NDRF teams along with Pune Police and Pune Fire Brigade, and later Army jawans also joined in to carry out rescue operations and shift people stranded in floodwaters in Nimbaj Nagar, Deccan Gymkhana, and Sinhagad Road areas which were among the worst-hit by the rain.