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Overflowing rivers and flooded homes: Thane district struggles to stay afloat
The overflowing Ulhas and Waldhuni rivers brought the lives of Thane residents to a standstill over the weekend. The water had entered several homes, and had disrupted
The overflowing Ulhas and Waldhuni rivers brought the lives of Thane residents to a standstill over the weekend. The water had entered several homes, and had disrupted road connectivity and power supply.
As the city is likely to receive heavy rainfall on Monday also, Rajesh Narvekar, the district collector, declared that the schools will remain closed on Monday as a precautionary measure.
Residents of around 700 homes in the Khadegolavli area of Kalyan were evacuated to safety on Sunday. Shivaji Patil, deputy collector, Thane district, said, “The areas of Kalyan, Diva, Bhiwandi, Vashind, Bhatsai, Shahpur and Khadavli are flooded. We have stationed three Navy teams, two National Disaster Response Force teams and an army team along with boats in these areas to bring residents to safety.”
In Kalyan’s Bhavani Nagar, residents said the water level in their homes had reached the roof. Prashant Bade, 33, a resident of Bhavani Nagar, said, “Around 500 houses in our area are flooded, with the water touching the roofs of the chawl. We have a one-storey home, of which the ground floor is completely flooded. We have shifted our belongings to the first floor with a hope that the water does not rise beyond this.”
The Palava City, a plush township in Dombivli, too was waterlogged, since Sunday afternoon after Ulhas river’s water level rose to 19.50 metres, 2.5 metres above its maximum capacity. Nishant Kashyap, 33, a resident of Palava City, said, “There was waist-deep water in the buildings near the promenade of the Ulhas river. The building’s elevator was closed for operations after water entered the building. Most of the vehicles in the society were submerged under water.”
On Saturday evening, the authorities had circulated alerts in the areas surrounding the Barvi dam, after it had reached its maximum capacity. On Sunday, around 4.30am, the gates of the dam were opened to release its water and until evening, 20,000 metre per cubic second of water was released from the Barvi dam, district authorities said. By then however, the dam had caused floods in eastern Badlapur. Shabri Ghatwal, 28, a Badlapur resident, said, “At my relative’s society in Badlapur East, there was knee-deep water.”
Patil said the connectivity to Murbad was cut off on Sunday also, as the Raita bridge continued to remain closed for traffic, owing to the overflowing Ulhas river over the bridge. The Pune Link Road, connecting Ulhasnagar to Kalyan, too, was waterlogged and thus closed for traffic.
Anil Mangle, police inspector, Thane traffic department, said, “The Durgadi bridge in Kalyan is closed for vehicles. The traffic was diverted from Yewai-Bapgaon- Gandhari bridge to Kalyan. We have asked motorists to avoid using the Rajnouli-Kalyan Road due to water-logging.”
The Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) cut off the power supply for most of the sub-stations to prevent any electrocution incidents, owing to which, the supply was affected in Badlapur East, Badlapur village, Manda, Titwala, Varap, Maral, Kon, some areas in Kalyan and Khadavli. The supply will be resumed only after the water recedes, informed an MSEDCL spokesperson.
