New Delhi: Eighty-nine bodies have been retrieved and 34 people are missing following landslides triggered by heavy rainfall in the coastal regions of Maharashtra, the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) said on Sunday.
S.N. Pradhan, the director general (DG) of the federal force, tweeted the latest data of its operations being undertaken in Raigad, Ratnagiri and Satara districts of the state.
As per the data, NDRF rescuers have retrieved a total of 89 bodies from these areas, with the highest number of 47 being from the worst-hit Taliye village under Mahad tehsil of Raigad.
Thirty-four people have been reported missing in these three districts, as per the data updated till 3:15 pm.
The force has deployed 34 teams for relief and rescue operations in the affected regions of Maharashtra.
The NDRF is operating in landslide-affected Taliye in Raigad, Porase and Pedhe in Ratnagiri, and Mirgaon, Ambeghar and Dhokawale in Satara district, the data showed.
The number of deaths due to flooding, landslides and other rain-related incidents in parts of Maharashtra reached 113 on Sunday, with one more casualty being reported in the last 24 hours, while 100 people were missing after the monsoon fury, the state government said.
So far, 50 people have also been injured in these incidents, it said in a statement.
According to an India Today report, the India Meteorology Department on Sunday said that the intensity of the rainfall in Maharashtra may decrease from today evening (July 25). But the ghats section near Nasik city and ghat areas will get 11.5 cm to 20.4 cm of rainfall, which falls under the extremely heavy rainfall category, for the next 12 hours.
Isolated parts of Goa, Karnataka, and Gujarat will receive heavy showers today, as per an Indian Express report. Heavy rains are also expected in Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh in the next 24 hours.
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Meanwhile, chief minister Uddhav Thackeray on Sunday said a separate force on the lines of the NDRF will be set up in all districts of the state and the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) will also be strengthened.
Thackeray while addressing a press conference in Chiplun, the site of severe flooding in Ratnagiri district of the Konkan region, said, “Considering the frequent natural calamities, a separate force on the lines of the NDRF will be set up in all districts of the state. Similarly, a flood management machinery will also be set up.”
He directed the local administration to provide food, water and medicines to the displaced people.
Union MSME Minister Narayan Rane, who also visited the rain-hit Chiplun town, lashed out at the chief minister over flood management, saying the local administration was irresponsible.
“There is no chief minister or administration in the state,” alleged Rane, the Maratha leader having pockets of influence in the coastal Konkan region.
The state government had not made arrangements for providing food to the displaced people, the Union minister said, adding that he will submit a report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
(With inputs from PTI)