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Swollen Kamvari river near Mumbai sweeps away two boys in 24 hours as rain batters city
Mumbai, Pune weather news: On Sunday, a 17-year-old boy drowned in the same Kamvari river after being swept away by strong currents.
As raging waters overflow in rivers amid heavy rainfall across Maharashtra, a 10-year-old boy was swept away by the Kamvari River in Thane's Bhiwandi on Monday, marking the second such incident within 24 hours.
On Sunday, a 17-year-old boy drowned in the same river after being swept away by strong currents.
Heavy rain pounded Thane, Mumbai and several other regions across Maharashtra as the India Meteorological Department issued a red alert for the day.
The incessant rainfall has also triggered several damaging incidents, with Thane's civic bodies recording 186 emergency complaints across the city. These included 110 tree collapses, 38 fallen branches, four instances of waterlogging, two compound wall collapses, and one slab fall.
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The 10-year-old, who drowned on Monday, had gone to dump his household garbage near the river when he was swept away by the raging river.
Meanwhile, the teenager who drowned in the Kamvari River on Sunday had gone to the riverbank with his friends to catch crabs when strong currents caught hold of him, and he was swept away.
Mumbai, Thane, Pune on red alert
The weather office placed Mumbai, Pune, Thane, Raigad, and Palghar under red alert as monsoon mayhem continued in the state.
Heavy waterlogging, swollen rivers, and damaged infrastructure have severely disrupted daily lives in these cities. Rescue teams across Thane and Palghar were on high alert as rainwater entered many low-lying areas.
Meanwhile, a giant tree got uprooted and leaned against a residential building near the Vrindavan bus stop in Thane's Srirang society area on Monday morning, news agency PTI reported.
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A 32-year-old, identified as Ankit Yadav, was seriously injured in the incident, with Regional Disaster Management Cell (RDMC) chief Yasin Tadvi saying that the man's leg was accidentally hit by the mechanical cutter machine in the process of removing the uprooted branches.
Yadav is currently undergoing treatment at the civic-run Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa.
On Pokhran Road No.2, a massive advertisement board collapsed due to intense winds, resulting in the heavy hoarding crashing onto the roadside. Civic authorities cordoned off the area to clear the hoarding, Tadvi said.
Several such incidents, triggered by the intense rainfall, have been reported from across Maharashtra.
ALSO READ | 2 injured as heavy rain triggers balcony collapse in Thane
In the last 24 hours ending 8:30 am on Monday, Thane recorded 208.53 mm of rainfall, with the city's cumulative seasonal rainfall reaching 1,157.24 mm, higher than last year's 989.00 mm recorded during the same period.
Mumbai-Pune 'Missing Link' damaged
Torrential showers also caused damage to the 'Missing Link', a newly launched stretch connecting Pune and Mumbai.
A landslide near the stretch in the early hours of Monday forced authorities to partly shut the Missing Link for passengers for some hours.
A part of the stretch was seen covered in mud and silt as videos of the site went viral on social media. MSRDC Executive Engineer Rakesh Sonawane said traffic was halted only at the tunnel exit due to the landslide, adding that the rest of the connecting link was intact.
WFH, half-day advisory in Mumbai
The State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA) on Monday advised offices in Mumbai to allow work from home for its employees, announcing a half-day for non-essential and semi-government offices in view of the heavy rain.
The advisory said that employees of government and semi-government offices, except those involved in essential services, have been granted a half-day after noon.
Authorities also urged residents of the city to avoid unnecessary travel, remain indoors unless essential, and follow official advisories as incessant rainfall continued to impact normal life in Mumbai and adjoining areas.
