Relief from rain likely for Maharashtra today; key highways shut as Army relief ops on

At least 153 people lost their lives, 64 have been missing and 230,000 people have been displaced in the worst floods Maharashtra has seen in decades.

A respite from heavy torrential downpour is likely on Monday for the flood-hit Maharashtra as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall at isolated places in the state, accompanied by strong winds. "Heavy rainfall at isolated places has been forecasted by the weather body for central Maharashtra, Coastal Karnataka, Konkan and Goa," a forecast by the IMD for Monday read. The rains will be accompanied by strong winds of 45-55kmph gusting to 60kmph over southwest and central Arabian sea, a forecast read, advising fishermen to not venture into these areas.

Indian Army personnel rescued stranded villagers from submerged areas following incessant rain in Bastwad, Karnataka and Kolhapur, Maharashtra on Sunday. (ANI Photo)

In the later part of the week, the state can continue to expect relief from the rainfall as the monsoon now travels upwards to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. The country will witness normal to below normal monsoon conditions this week, the IMD said in its forecast.

The reduced downpour will help the rain-battered state to carry out relief operations, crippled last week due to continuous record-breaking rainfall. At least 153 people lost their lives, 64 have been missing and 230,000 people have been displaced in the worst floods Maharashtra has seen in decades.

Pummeled by the rains, key state and national highways in Maharashtra remain disconnected from the rest of the country for four consecutive days. The Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, partly submerged near Kolhapur, continued to be shut for vehicular traffic for the third day on Sunday. Kolhapur-Pune, Mumbai-Goa, Kolhapur-Ratnagiri were shut till Sunday evening in patches in Ratnagiri, Kolhapur and Sindhudurg.

Nearly 2,000 Karnataka-bound vehicles, including trucks, are stranded on the national highway, the district police told PTI. The highway was shut for traffic since Friday after a part of was submerged due to rising water levels amid incessant rain in the district.

Troops of the Indian Army have intensified relief and rescue operations in Sangli, Kohlapur and Ratnagiri districts. More than 80 stranded locals from the flood-affected areas of Bastwad in Kolhapur were rescued on Sunday, a defence release said. The army also set up a Central War Room for coordination between the three services for ongoing flood relief operations in Maharashtra.

"#OperationVarsha21--A Central War Room has been established at Department of Military Affairs for close coordination between the three Services for ongoing #FloodRelief operations in #Maharashtra," Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army said in a tweet.

At least 34 self-contained National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams, deployed to carry out relief operations in the flood-hit state, evacuated 500 stranded persons and rescued 44 people from the affected areas on Sunday.

The situation in Maharashtra worsened after torrential downpour over Thursday and Friday triggered the worst floods and landslides in decades in Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara districts. In Sangli, 196,957 people have been evacuated, while in Kolhapur, 145,930 have been taken to safe places and temporary shelters.

NDRF and armed forces teams deployed in rescue operations in the eight districts recovered few more bodies from the debris at landslide sites on Sunday, while search operations at a few sites were called off by evening.