Four people have died – three were electrocuted – in Pune, two drowned after falling into Thane’s Barvi Dam, and a red alert has been declared for Mumbai and Palghar after heavy rainfall, overnight and this morning, battered the three cities and other parts of Maharashtra Thursday.
The observatory in Mumbai’s Santacruz has recorded over 1,500 mm of rain so far this month, making it the second wettest July in the city’s history. The city groaned under 1,771 mm last July.
The city 122.1 mm (between Santacruz and Colaba) between 8.30 am and 5.30 pm today.
Mumbai Rains
The weather department has declared a red alert for Mumbai till 8.30 am Friday.
Four rivers in the state, including the Kundalika and Amba, are flowing above the danger mark and threaten to destroy villages and settlements along their banks. In addition, the Mithi River, which is adjacent to Mumbai’s Chhatrapati Shivaji Airport, flowing just a metre below that mark.
Flight ops at the airport have been affected by the rain; IndiGo and SpiceJet warned passengers of “periodic delays in flight schedules, and Air India offered full refunds for cancelled flights.
Videos and photographs shared online showed extensive flooding in parts of the city.
One video shows Mumbai’s iconic Marine Drive shrouded in a grey fog of rain.
High waves have been reported along Juhu Beach, prompting police and local officials to warn people to stay away from the coastline.
Pune Rain News
Like Mumbai, Pune also faces a red alert till Friday morning.
The Army has been called in to help disaster response teams, with authorities reporting severe flooding in areas like Ekta Nagri and Vitthal Nagar and in housing societies in Kalyaninagar.
The city has also experienced widespread power outages; officials told The Times of India in 90 per cent of these cases supply had been switched off to avoid water-related electrical mishaps.
Parts of Pune city were without electricity for over 12 hours, reports said.
Schools and colleges in the city were ordered to close for the day.
Videos shared by news agency PTI showed NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) personnel rowing inflatable life rafts through busy streets-turned-raging rivers to evacuate people.
#WATCH | Pune: The fire department rescued 70 stranded people from the Nimbjanagar area of Pune city earlier today, as the city received heavy rainfall.
Visuals Source: Pune Fire Department pic.twitter.com/NLxZmLEnSV
— ANI (@ANI) July 25, 2024
Other visuals show heavily flooded streets and, in an image that underlines the scale of the floods, the Morya Gosavi Ganpati temple in Pimpri-Chinchwad is nearly fully submerged.
Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar visited several flood-affected areas and also met senior police officials to review and coordinate rescue and relief efforts.
Lavasa Landslide
A landslide was reported from Lavasa, a private city about 65 km from Pune. Visuals showed a section of a road completely washed away. Three to four people are believed to be trapped.
NDRF personnel working to free people stuck in the Lavasa landslide.
A team of NDRF officials is on site.
NDTV Marathi has reported some bungalows in the area were destroyed.
Maharashtra Floods News
In Raigad district, a bridge over a small stream in the Mahad Industrial Development area was washed away. Officials said the structure was not used by vehicular traffic.
Six gates of the Koyna Dam in Satara district, one of the largest in the state, were cranked open by just 18 inches this evening, and over 11,000 cusecs (or over 3.2 lakh litres) of water came gushing out.
Sources told NDTV the gates will be opened again at 7 pm, stating controlling water level in the dam is critical for structural integrity even as inflow increases due to continuous rain.
Alerts have been sounded for Raigad and other districts.
