By Raju Vernekar
Mumbai, July 12:
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for Kolhapur, Palghar, Nashik, Pune, and Ratnagiri districts of Maharashtra with a forecast of ‘heavy’ to ‘very heavy’ rains till Thursday.
With rains lashing several parts of the state for the last few days, the administration has ordered the closure of schools and colleges in Gadchiroli in the Vidarbha region in Eastern Maharashtra till Wednesday.
With IMD issuing a red alert, Gadchiroli Collector Sanjay Meena issued an order stating that except for emergency services, all private offices, establishments, and shops will remain closed given the flooding till Wednesday midnight.
In the Gadchiroli district, three persons were swept away in overflowing nullahs in the last three days and their bodies were fished out later, the District Information Office (DIO) said in a release. Besides, as many as 353 people from 129 places affected by heavy rains were shifted to safer places.
Most of the Vidarbha rivers including Pranhita, Bandiya, Pearlkota, Paul Gautam, and Indravati are in spate. Due to the overflowing Vainganga river, the flood gates of Sanjay Sarovar and Gosikhurd dam were opened on Monday. Similarly, 81 floodgates of the Medigadda barrage (Kaleshwaram irrigation project) located on the Maharashtra-Telangana border were opened to reduce flooding. Nagpur received 65 percent of the July rainfall in the last 10 days.
The IMD has forecast thunderstorms with lightning very likely at isolated places over Chandrapur. Besides the light to moderate rainfall is very likely at a few places over Gondia and at isolated places over Bhandara, Gadchiroli, and Yavatmal districts of Vidarbha on Tuesday, the IMD bulleting stated.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis visited Gadchiroli to take stock of the situation on Monday. They were informed by the officials that nearly 14 people died in different rain-related incidents in Vidarbha in the last few days. The administration has deployed 13 teams of NDRF and two teams of State Disaster Relief Force in the 8 districts for relief measures.
Nashik
Heavy showers continued to lash the Nashik district in Central Maharashtra, causing a rise in water levels of several rivers and submerging many temples located on the bed of the Godavari river. The IMD has issued a ‘red’ alert for Nashik district till Thursday, with a forecast of heavy to extremely heavy rains of over 20 cm in 24 hours. In the last 24 hours, Surgana in the Nashik district received the highest rainfall at 238.8 mm, followed by Peth at 187.6 mm and Trimbakeshwar at 168 mm. The heavy rains resulted in an increase in water levels in various dams of the district. In Nashik city, pre-primary schools have been shut due to the rains
Nanded
The incessant rains triggered floods in rivers in Nanded and Ardhapur. The rains damaged crops and houses of farmers in the Nanded district of the Marathwada region. Nanded MP Prataprao Patil Chikahlikar has assured affected farmers of 100 percent financial assistance.
Mumbai
Light to moderate rains also lashed Mumbai and its neighbouring areas, but there was no report of water-logging anywhere in the metropolis, civic officials said. However, in neighbouring rural Thane, three houses collapsed and one person was reported drowned. Pune district, too, has been witnessing heavy rains for the last few days.
Meanwhile IMD in the late Monday evening bulletin forecast “Moderate risk likely over few watersheds and neighbourhoods of East Madhya Pradesh, West Madhya Pradesh, Konkan and Goa, Saurashtra and Kutch in south Gujarat region, south and east Vidarbha (Maharashtra), Chhatisgarh, North Telangana and coastal Karnataka in next 24 hours.
