Kolhapur/Sangli: At least 23 people have been killed, including 14 in Kolhapur and 12 in Sangli as a rescue boat capsized, as rains wreaked massive havoc in these Maharashtra districts since the past over one week, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said here on Thursday.
Fadnavis was talking to reporters after an aerial survey of the flood-ravaged areas which also include Satara and Pune district, along with his cabinet colleagues Chandrakanat Patil, Girish Mahajan and Eknath Shinde.
He said that “the situation is very grim, and a national calamity would be declared in the region at the appropriate time”.
While 14 deaths are recorded in Kolhapur due to the rains in the past few days, at least 12 persons drowned when a rescue boat capsized in Brahamnal village of Sangli this morning.
Earlier, Konkan Divisional Commissioner Deepak Mhaiskar said nine people were killed when the boat carrying around 30 villagers lost balance and overturned leading to the tragedy.
The Chief Minister said that warlike rescue efforts have been launched with over 10,000 personnel, from 13 National Disaster Response Force teams, one of the State Disaster Response Force, a column of Indian Army, 14 Navy teams, a Coast Guard team and the Air Force and local agencies engaged in rescuing people trapped in the flood waters in the two districts. (IANS)
