112 dead, 1.5 lakh evacuated as heavy rains and floods hit Maharashtra; IMD issues red alert for 6 districts
Forecasting extremely heavy rainfall, the IMD has issued a red alert for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara and Kolhapur. Around 875 villages were affected and 135,313 people have been moved away from the flood-affected areas.
More than 100 people have lost their lives in rain-related incidents, 99 still missing in Maharashtra till Saturday night, said the Relief and Rehabilitation Department. At least 53 people were injured in rain-related incidents.
In one of the biggest relief operations carried out in recent years, over 1.35 lakh people have been evacuated to safer areas after their homes were submerged in flood waters, in some places up to 20-feet deep.
On Saturday morning, a passenger train derailed between Dudhsagar and Sonaulim in South Goa after heavy rains and the overflowing of the Vashishti river between Chiplun and Kamathe in Maharashtra.
The National Disaster Response Force (NMDRF) on Saturday informed that a total of 34 rescue teams at different locations are engaged in relief and rescue operations, including Mumbai, Thane, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Raigad, Sahara, Sangli, Sindhudurg Nagar, and Kolhapur in coordination with the state administration.
