As Maharashtra continues to get battered by heavy rainfall, a fatal landslide in the state's Raigad district on Thursday night claimed the lives of five people, reported news agency ANI on Friday, citing the district collector.
"Five people died in the Raigad district due to landslides and floods," district collector Nidhi Chaudhary told ANI. She added that the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) has been informed, as authorities continue to attempt headway in the disaster rescue operation.
"The NDRF team is having trouble reaching the affected villages as roads are submerged underwater," the Raigad district collector was quoted as saying by the news agency.
{{/usCountry}}"The NDRF team is having trouble reaching the affected villages as roads are submerged underwater," the Raigad district collector was quoted as saying by the news agency.
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The Ratnagiri and Raigad districts of Maharashtra have been battered by torrential rains over the past 24 hours, resulting in a flood-like situation. Following an emergency meeting chaired by chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Thursday, NDRF rushed two teams to Ratnagiri's Khed and Chiplun areas to tackle the critical situation due to high tide and heavy rain.
As of Friday morning, a team of NDRF managed to evacuate and shift residents of the Chikhli village to safer places.
Meanwhile, Raigad's guardian minister Aditi Tatkare said the Maharashtra government has sought assistance from the Centre and the Indian Army to rescue the people trapped in Mahad.
The Western Naval Command of the Indian Navy, based in Mumbai, has mobilised flood rescue teams and helicopters for assistance, based on a request from the Maharashtra government. Seven naval rescue teams from Mumbai departed by road for deployment to Ratnagiri and Raigad on Thursday, ANI reported.
Moreover, the armed forces are also helping in airlifting marooned personnel from the Raigad district. A Seaking 42C Helo chopper from INS Shikra, docked in Mumbai, departed for rescue at Poladpur in Raigad during the early hours on Friday.
Two more NDRF teams have been mobilised for rescue operations -- one each for Khed in Ratnagiri and for Mahad in Raigad -- from the disaster management body's Pune headquarters. Additional flood rescue teams have been kept on standby for immediate deployment, should the need arise.
The national forecasting agency India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued red and orange alerts for several regions in the state and said they are set to receive heavy rainfall in the next three days.