Heavy rains leave 200 stranded in Marathwada; 150 rescued by Army, IAF, NDRF teams

Heavy rains in Marathwada stranded 200 people, with 150 rescued. Four died, and warnings were issued as flooding worsens, affecting multiple villages.

MUMBAI: Heavy rainfall in several districts of Marathwada, including Ahilyanagar, Beed, and Parbhani, left around 200 people stranded at various locations due to severe flooding. Over 150 people have been rescued by coordinated efforts of the Indian Air Force, Indian Army, National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), and local teams, and shifted to safer places. Four people from Beed and Hingoli districts have died, while a couple more were injured in lightning strikes.

ndia- pune - 15 September - After overnight showers in the city, the India Meteorological Department has issued a heavy rain alert for Pune and nearby areas, Late night rain in Pune also left the city waterlogging, today Punekar was facing traffic jam, number of tree fall in city, at many places drainage line was chock up, potholes on many roads police Cops himself was feeling potholes near cantonment office, today step by step water was released from Dam which lead to flood like situation in some areas . ( pics / Mahendra Kolhe/ HT )

Beed district was the worst hit, with 52 villagers stranded across five villages, around 150 trapped in Thevur village, and 12 in Indapur, Pune. All villagers from Ashti in Beed have now been rescued, while more than 100 from Thevur were brought to safety by NDRF, Army, and IAF teams. In Indapur, local residents stepped in to rescue those trapped. In Ahilyanagar, 19 people were evacuated from Pathardi and Karanji villages. Meanwhile, warnings were issued in several villages of Parbhani as the Godavari River crossed its danger level.

“Due to heavy rainfall, 52 people were stranded in five villages of Ashti tehsil, Beed district. So far, 51 have been rescued and shifted to safe locations, while one remains missing and is feared drowned. Of the rescued, 24 were airlifted, and the rest were brought out by local rescue teams. The Indian Air Force flew in from Nashik for air operations, which have now been concluded. The Army was also deployed for rescue efforts,” said an official from the Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar divisional commissioner’s office.

The official further confirmed four deaths and widespread cattle losses due to the floods.

Parts of Shevgaon and Pathardi tehsils in Ahilyanagar reported heavy rainfall following a cloudburst, leading to severe traffic snarls on highways due to waterlogging. Several local rivers began overflowing, with cattle reportedly swept away by rising waters.

“These are not retreating spells, and sporadic heavy rainfall is expected over the next few days in the region. In the last 24 hours, Mumbai’s Colaba and Santacruz centres recorded 134 mm and 73 mm of rainfall, respectively. In view of revised alerts by the IMD, the NDRF and SDRF have been repositioned, with one team each deployed in Beed and Ahilyanagar,” said an official from the State Emergency Operations Centre, Mantralaya.

Water is currently being discharged at a combined rate of 1.51 lakh cusecs from ten irrigation projects in Nanded, with the Vishnupuri dam alone releasing 91,854 cusecs. The Manjara irrigation project in Latur saw its discharge increase to 17,333 cusecs over five hours on Monday, while the Majalgaon dam in Beed (Sindphana river) ramped up discharge from 38,651 to 71,248 cusecs within four hours.