89,000 rendered homeless in flood-battered Maharashtra
NDRF, ICG teams deployed to rescue people; IAF choppers dropped food and medicine packets; over 1,000 evacuated safely; there were over a dozen hillslides, landslips in different districts
As rains finally took a break, the flood-ravaged districts of Maharashtra presented a grim scenario with over 89,000 people evacuated and only beginning to grapple with the idea of how to rebuild their lives, officials said on Saturday.
Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray let Mumbai by helicopter to Raigad and then by road to survey the worst-hit Taliye village, near Mahad, where more than 50 people perished under a hillslide on Friday.
According to the State Disaster Management Authority (SDMA), the towns of Chiplun and Khed in Ratnagiri district were completely inundated with water, both remained cut-off from land routes as the Vashishti River bridge was washed away in the flood.
As unprecedented rains jacked up the water levels to more than 15-20 feet (or, two-three floors of buildings), thousands of people were stranded on rootops or upper floods and were seen screaming for help.
The NDRF and ICG teams were deployed to rescue them while the IAF choppers dropped food and medicine packets, and over 1,000 were evacuated safely.
With a stupendous record 110-cms rainfall in the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, massive water rushed to the Koyna Dam and Koltewadi Dam and their discharges caused the Vashishti River to swell above the danger levels, resulting in floods in the towns and villages on its banks.
There were over a dozen hillslides and landslips in different districts burying scores and many more reported missing and efforts on a war front are on to rescue them from the slush and stones.
The state government has sanctioned Rs2crore for relief operations to the affected regions where water levels started receding and cleaning operations have been taken up.
The SDMA pegged the current official death toll at 76 besides another 59 missing and 38 injured in the floods, hill-slips, landslides and other rainrelated tragedies.
The worst-hit districts were Kolhapur, Raigad, Sangli, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sindhudurg, Mumbai and Thane, hiting a total of 890 villages.
A total of 25 NDRF teams plus eight on standby, three units each of Indian Army and Indian Coast Guard, seven of Indian Navy and one of Indian Air Force, besides local authorities are engaged in the rescue operations non-stop since the past over 24 hours.
The SDMA said that with fresh rains starting in the area, the authorities are on high alert to prevent any untoward situation while health officials are keeping an eye on the region for possible outbreak of any diseases in the flood atermath.
The hopes of finding survivors in Maharashtra’s Taliye, where a portion of a hillock flatened most of the village buried at least 32 houses, were fading away as the rescue operation was stalled due to heavy rain on Saturday.
Loose mud prevented NDRF from resuming digging to look for around 50 residents, who remain missing. Locals said the rescue operation was progressing slowly due to bad weather and difficult terrain earlier even as 36 bodies were pulled from debris until Friday evening.
Sandhya Malusare, who lost her mother, father, and six other relatives, said she survived since she lives in a neighbouring village.
“This is the biggest tragedy of my life and I have lost many of my family members....the administration is very slow in carrying out the rescue and search operations.”
Mahendra Pol, a resident, said the locals do not have the wherewithal to carry out the evacuation, search and rescue operations.
“Fortunately, my family members were saved... but others were unlucky. Yesterday (Friday) and the day before (Thursday), there was a slow rescue process while today (Saturday) it has not even started properly.” Taliye is one of the hardest-hit areas in Maharashtra, where the toll from landslides and flooding went up to 138 on Saturday while 90,000 people have been evacuated from seven districts in the atermath of heavy rain this week.
The locals said they have been let to fend for themselves. “Even police are helpless, and many villagers are missing.
“The government is not sensitive. Police are also at a distance and not visiting the spot. The rescue operation has been delayed and the government officials are insensitive to our pain and anguish. Whatever bodies have been recovered was due to the efforts of locals,” said a resident.