Over 60 killed as west India hit by heavy rain

The hardest hit were villages in Raigad, where a portion of a hillock flattened most of the Taliye village late on Thursday.

At least 61 people were killed and more than 120 others were missing on Friday after heavy rain pummelled the Konkan and Western Maharashtra region for two days, triggering landslides and flooding several villages where rescue operations were mounted.

At least 32 houses were buried and, as on Friday evening, 36 bodies were pulled out from the debris. (PTI)

The hardest hit were villages in Raigad, where a portion of a hillock flattened most of the Taliye village late on Thursday. At least 32 houses were buried and, as on Friday evening, 36 bodies were pulled out from the debris.

“Around 80-85 people are missing. Many are still trapped under debris. NDRF (national disaster response force), local agencies and others are carrying out rescue operations,” said Maharashtra’s urban development and PWD minister Eknath Shinde.

Another landslide in a different Raigad village, Kevanale, killed 11 people district officials said.

In Satara district, seven people were killed in multiple landslides and 30 more were still missing. In Ratnagiri’s Posare village, three persons were killed after a portion of hillock gave away while 14 persons were still reported missing.

“Unexpected very heavy rainfall triggered landslides in many places and flooded rivers,” chief minister Uddhav Thackeray told journalists in the afternoon.

Four people were killed when a house collapsed in a slum in state capital Mumbai on Friday.

Parts the state received up to 59.4cm of rainfall over 24 hours, forcing authorities to evacuate people from vulnerable areas as they released water from dams that were threatening to overflow, Reuters reported. Some of the people who were rescued on Friday were stranded on rooftops and even on the top of buses.

“There are reports of landslides in other parts of the state and my appeal to everyone is to stay safe. Those living in risky terrain should move to safer places,” said Thackeray.

The meteorological department has issued red alerts for several regions in the state, indicating that heavy rainfall will continue for the next few days.

State relief and rehabilitation minister Vijay Wadettiwar said villagers at Taliye were alerted and moved to safer locations earlier in the week in anticipation of heavy rain following the India Meteorological Department’s red alert. “But the locals moved back to the same place before the landslide,” said Wadettiwar.

Raigad district collector Nidhi Choudhari confirmed around 32 houses were buried under soil, and 10 people survived with moderate injuries. “Based on the information from locals and survivors, we can say almost 30-35 people are still feared trapped. We have pressed more rescuers into service to search people trapped under the debris,” said Choudhari.

Raigad district guardian minister Aditi Tatkare said while the landslide occurred on Thursday, rescue operations could begin only the following day due to lack of visibility.

In Satara, landslides were reported at Ambeghar, Mirgaon, Dhokawale, Devrukhwadi – Kondhawale, Renganwadi, and Hombardi.

“We have recovered six bodies so far, while 30 persons are still missing. The search operation is underway on war-footing though heavy rains in many parts are creating hurdles” said Satara district collector Shekhar Singh.

“At Ambeghar, four houses were buried under soil following a landslide and there are 16 people feared trapped, while in Mirgaon, three houses were affected and 12 people are feared trapped. Separately, four persons have been reported missing at Dhokawale,” said Singh.

Satara superintendent of police Ajay Kumar Bansal said the continuous rains have also flooded the roads, cutting several of these villages off and making rescue work difficult.

Patan, along with neighbouring Mahabaleshwar, received record rainfall on Thursday. According to IMD, Mahabaleshwar recorded 60 cm rainfall within 24 hours ending Friday morning, a record for the hill station.

Several states and regions along the West coast have been hit hard. Road connectivity in Goa and north Karnataka have been cut off and traffic on the Mumbai-Bengaluru national highway was suspended on Friday after part of the stretch was inundated near Shiroli under Kolhapur district. This prompted local police to block the vehicular traffic from crossing the stretch.

In Goa, the overnight heavy rainfall inundated houses, left hundreds stranded, snapped communication lines and disrupted rail and road traffic.

In Karnataka, parts of Belagavi, Chikkamagaluru, Dharward, Haveri, Shivamogga and Uttara Kannada were inundated. The rivers Krishna, Cauvery, Tungabhadra, Bhima, Kapila (Kabini) and others in Malnad and coastal Karnataka were in spate due to heavy rains, officials said.