Heavy rains have battered large swathes of the country with several states grappling with floods. Sixteen deaths in flood-related incidents have been reported from western Maharashtra in the last seven days, according to PTI, while the toll in Karnataka has risen to nine.
Maharashtra
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Thursday conducted an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas.
Till Wednesday, around 1.32 lakh flood-affected people in Pune region (comprising districts of Pune, Satara, Solapur, Sangli and Kolhapur) were shifted to safer places, Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar said, according to PTI.
“The road communication between Sangli and Kolhapur and between Kolhapur and Belgaum (in Karnataka) has been affected,” he said, adding that people should avoid traveling on Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway (NH 4).
On Thursday, nine people drowned and four were missing after a boat engaged in rescue work overturned in a water body in Maharashtra’s flood-hit Sangli district, an official told PTI.
Fadnavis said on Wednesday that the state received 104 percent of average rain during June-August period, most of it in western Maharashtra and Konkan regions.
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Karnataka
Nearly 43,000 people have so far been evacuated from flood-hit and rain-affected areas of Karnataka, where nine people have died, authorities said on Thursday.
The worst-hit was Belagavi district, where six persons have lost their lives, while 40,180 people have been evacuated, reported PTI.
Two persons lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Uttara Kannada district, from where 3,088 people have been evacuated till Thursday, and one in Shivamogga, according to official figures.
Nearly 17,000 people are taking shelter in relief camps.
Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa is currently camping in Belagavi supervising relief and rescue operations.
Meanwhile, the state has agreed to release five lakh cusecs water from Almatti dam to help affected people in Kolhapur and Sangli districts of Maharashtra, an official said.
Goa
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday said the state government is on “high alert” in view of the forecast of heavy rainfall in next few days, and people have been advised not to venture into the sea.
Heavy rains lashed several parts of Goa, including the state capital Panaji, on Thursday morning.
The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) office on Wednesday predicted heavy to very heavy rainfall in the coastal state for next couple of days.
Sawant said several villages in Bardez, Pernem and Bicholim talukas of North Goa district were flooded after water was released from Tillari dam following heavy showers in its catchment areas.
Andhra Pradesh
A third warning signal was raised in Srikakulam district as the flood level at Gotta Barrage on River Vamsadhara crossed 1.11 lakh cusecs on Thursday morning.
The second warning signal was continuing at Thotapalli Barrage on River Nagavali with an inflow of 43,479 cusecs.
Heavy downpour in the upper catchment area in Odisha is resulting in copious inflows into Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers, the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority said.
A 60-member team of NDRF and 35-member SDRF and 60 personnel of Fire Services Department have been deployed in Srikakulam district for rescue and relief operation in view of the flood situation.
Madhya Pradesh
Moderate to heavy rains had been witnessed across many parts of Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday.
The administration had urged the residents of villages in the submergence area of Sardar Sarovar Dam in four districts of Madhya Pradesh to move to safer areas.
Officials, according to PTI, said the level of the dam’s backwaters has been rising in the districts of Barwani, Dhar, Alirajpur and Khargone in Madhya Pradesh.
Permanent rehabilitation sites and temporary tin sheds have been built outside the submergence area, Indore divisional commissioner Akash Tripathi said.
Kerala
Several parts of Kerala received heavy rainfall on Thursday with the state disaster management authority issuing a red alert for three districts in the morning.
Kerala chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan held a review meeting on the rains as five NDRF teams were deployed in the state. The state has requested for 10 more teams.
Gujarat
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall in regions of south and central Gujarat on Thursday and Friday, according to The Times of India.
Two Indian Air Force helicopters had on Monday rescued thirteen villagers stranded in Mangarol taluka of Surat district, as heavy rains lashed the southern part of the state over the past few days, officials told PTI.
(With PTI inputs)