Maharashtra floods: Water begins to recede, ops on

Although the water started to recede in flood-hit Kolhapur and Sangli in western Maharashtra on Sunday, the districts are still cut off, with the highways and rail routes still shut. At least five lakh people have been evacuated so far, while the death toll has crossed 40.

According to the state administration, releasing more water from Almatti dam in Karnataka improved the situation. The rainwater level in Kolhapur receded by 1.11ft and in Sangli by 3ft. However, in Shirol in Kolhapur, the floodwater level remained 62.9ft. “The discharge from Almatti dam was increased to 5.30 lakh cusecs on Sunday, but against it, the inflow in the dam was 6.45 lakh cusecs. The rivers in these two districts are flowing around 8ft above their danger levels. More than 200 roads and 90 bridges across the state and 163 roads in five districts of Pune division are still closed for traffic. At least 79 bridges are waterlogged in Pune division alone. The Pune-Bengaluru national highway is still shut,” said Pune divisional commissioner Deepak Mhaisekar.

Relief work in some parts is still being carried out using choppers or inflated boats, as the streets are inundated. As many as 10 districts are facing flooding, with 70 tehsils and 761 villages affected. Twenty-seven tehsils and 585 villages from five districts in Pune division are among the affected. At least 40 people have been killed in Pune division, including 19 in Sangli, 6 in Kolhapur, seven each in Satara and Pune and one in Solapur. The death toll of the boat capsize incident in Brahmanal in Sangli reached 17, after five bodies were recovered on Sunday. The administration has set up 524 transit camps for the rescued, and ordered banks to give ₹5,000 in cash to all people hit by the floods.

Chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Sunday conducted a detailed review of the floods at a control room set up in Mantralaya, Mumbai. According to the review, a total of 105 teams are engaged in rescue and relief operations, including National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), State Disaster Response Force (SDRF), Navy, Army, Air Force, Coast Guard, and other agencies.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation commissioner Praveen Pardeshi has been directed to take charge of relief and rehabilitation of flood-affected districts. He was the collector of Latur when an earthquake struck the region 25 years ago and had represented UNDP as in-charge for rehabilitation after earthquake in Haiti, Afghanistan and Tsunami in Indonesia.

The CM has directed the authorities to change transformers to restore electricity in villages. Revenue minister and guardian minister of Kolhapur Chandrakant Patil said on Sunday that eight tonnes of essential commodities have been sent to the villages in Kolhapur using helicopters. He said that 1.2 lakh litres of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders have been brought to the flood-affected district. Patil said 1.48 lakh power connections in Kolhapur have been restored, while the remaining 1 lakh connections will be restored in the next two days.

Amid scenes of despair and grief, heartwarming scenes were witnessed in Rajapur village of Kolhapur district when some women expressed their gratitude towards security personnel by tying rakhis on their wrists, ahead of Raksha Bandhan (August 15).

Meanwhile, Fadnavis cancelled his Russia tour scheduled from August 12 to 14. He was part of the central government delegation led by railway and commerce minister Piyush Goyal and comprising chief ministers of seven states, including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Goa and Gujarat.