Heavy rainfall in Maharashtra, kills 129 people in two days

Around 129 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents in Maharahstra over the last two days as the state continues to receive heavy rainfall. 38 people were killed in a landslide in Raigad district's Talai village on Thursday. Several roads were swept away by floodwaters in the state. A senior official from the state disaster management department said on Friday evening said, "Rain-related incidents have claimed the lives of 129 people in the last 48 hours".

In Talai village of Maharashtra's Raigad district, a landslide has killed 38 people on Thursday. From the last two days heavy rainfall has caused flooding in parts of the coastal region and hit road and rail traffic. "The death toll in three separate incidents of landslides in Mahad tehsil, which took place on Thursday, is likely to rise", police said. "32 bodies were found at one spot in Talai, 4 were recovered from another location in Sakharsutarwadi village. 15 people have been reportedly rescued so far, but over 30 to 35 more are feared trapped under the debris", officials say. 

On Friday, PM Modi condoled the loss of lives in the landslide in Maharashtra's coastal Raigad district and an ex gratia of Rs 2 lakh is announced for the next of kin of the deceased. The official twitter handle of Prime Minister Modi, PMO India tweeted, "PM @narendramodi has announced an ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakh each from PMNRF for the next of kin of those who lost their lives due to a landslide in Raigad, Maharashtra. Rs 50,000 would be given to the injured."

The Maharashtra government announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakh each to the kin of people, who have died in landslides triggered by heavy rains in different parts of the state. "The injured will be treated in hospitals at the state's expense", it said in a statement. 

"Seven disaster relief teams (DRTs) are deployed by the Indian Coast Guard (ICG) at the coastal districts of Maharashtra, Goa and Karnataka to rescue people that are in distress due to incessant rains", an official statement said on Friday. Red alert has been issued by Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) for six districts of Maharashtra. The weather department has forecast extremely heavy rainfall for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhu Gurg, Pune, Satara and Kolhapur. 

"As many as 84,452 people, including over 40,000 in Kolhapur district, were shifted to safer places in Western Maharashtra's Pune division on Friday as rains battered the region and rivers were in spate", officials said. "The Panchganga river near the Kolhapur city was flowing at a level higher than that witnessed during the peak of floods in 2019", officials said.