42 killed in landslides, rain-related incidents

Mumbai, Jul 23 (PTI):
At least 42 people have died in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra, 36 of them in a landslide in coastal Raigad district, while 10 persons were feared trapped after a landslide in Ratnagiri district as heavy rains continued to wreak havoc in Maharashtra, where residents are being evacuated from hilly regions in Konkan, officials said on Friday.
Eleven people on board a bus had a narrow escape as they were rescued just before the vehicle got washed away into a river in Kolhapur district of Maharashtra early on Friday, police said.
No immediate relief appears in sight as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for six districts which have been already pounded by downpour, forecasting “extremely heavy” rainfall and recommending preventive actions.
The alert was issued for the next 24 hours for the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg in coastal Konkan and also for Pune, Satara and Kolhapur in Western Maharashtra.
The landslide in Raigad district took place near Talai village in Mahad tehsil on Thursday evening.
“Thirty-six bodies have been recovered from the landslide spot so far,” a senior police official said.
The search and rescue operation is on by NDRF teams, personnel of the local disaster management cell, police and district administration, he said.
Raigad district collector Nidhi Choudhary said the landslide incident was reported late Thursday evening. “But since the roads leading to the spot were blocked due to the floods and the sludge, the rescue teams found it difficult to reach the site,” she said.
“The operation resumed today morning and the bodies were recovered by afternoon,” she added.
According to officials, there are around 30 houses in the village, which were completely damaged due to the incident. In the 24 hours ended at 8.30 am on Friday, 165 mm average rainfall was recorded in Raigad district.
Six persons were killed in rain-related incidents in Satara district on Friday, incluidng landslides, while three persons were missing in floods, said a senior official from the disaster management department.
Two persons died in Jawali tehsil of Satara district and as many in Wai tehsil due to heavy rains and landslides. In two separate incidents of landslide and flash floods, one woman and a man died in Patan tehsil of Satara district, he said.
Landslides took place at Ambeghar and Mirgaon villages during Thursday night, burying a total of eight houses, said Ajay Kumar Bansal, Superintendent of Police, Satara rural.
The incidents followed a major landslide in the coastal Raigad district on Thursday evening.
The incident occurred around 2.30 am at Pangire village in Bhudargad tehsil when the bus driver, despite being asked by the police and the PWD personnel not to go ahead, drove the vehicle over a bridge even as the water of the Chikodi river was flowing above it, they said.
The water was flowing with strong force, due to which the bus fell off the bridge and got stuck in water before being swept away by the strong currents, he said.