The Hindu Business Line : Rains wreak havoc in Maharashtra

TORRENTIAL rains in the Konkan region of Maharashtra have claimed 28 lives so far and disrupted rail, road and air traffic. Mumbai city has also been badly hit.

About 5,000 people have been shifted to safer places in the Konkan region. More than 800 passengers have been stranded in various trains in the region and Armed forces have been pressed into service.

In the next 48 hours, more rains are expected in the region and people have been advised not to travel, the Chief Minister, Mr Vilasrao Deshmukh, told newspersons on Tuesday at the Secretariat.

Twenty-two bodies have been recovered from Raigad and six from Ratnagiri districts, Mr Deshmukh said. The Chief Secretary of Maharashtra, Mr R.M. Prem Kumar, and the Director-General of Police, Dr P.S. Pasricha, did an aerial survey of the region.

Speaking to Business Line, Dr Pasricha said the flood-affected area appeared like a sea with only few people seen.

Three choppers of the Navy and Air Force are being pressed into service for rescue operations and dropping food packets. The Army has moved from its cantonment in Kolhapur and is being deployed in the affected region. Contact between Mumbai and the affected districts has been cut off with rail links down and flooding of roads, the Chief Minister said.

Three phases of the Koyna Hydel power project have been shut down as water level in the dam has reached 80 tmc and the capacity of the dam is 90 tmc, Mr Deshmukh said. The Chief Minister said that authorities have been instructed to announce closure of schools for two days in Mumbai and neighbouring Thane in view of heavy rains.

Mumbai hit

Mumbai city has also been badly affected, with all the three suburban railways shut down. Temporary shelters are being provided for the stranded passengers at municipal schools.

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