MUMBAI, Aug 19: Rains pummelled most parts of Maharashtra on Tuesday, leaving 10 persons dead, bringing Mumbai to a near standstill, damaging properties and crops, and prompting the authorities to shift hundreds to safer locations.Apart from paralysing Mumbai and its metropolitan region, where train services and flight operations were affected, heavy rainfall battered Gadchiroli in Vidarbha region and Nanded in Marathwada region, among other districts.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, who reviewed the flood situation with the disaster management department, said the next 48 hours would be crucial for Mumbai, Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri and Sindhudurg districts, which remain on high alert.
Eight persons have died in Maharashtra’s Nanded district which witnessed flooding due to a cloudburst-like situation, while Mumbai received a record rainfall of around 300 mm, the CM said.He said crops spread across 12 to 14 lakh acres of land suffered damages due to heavy rains.Coordination was being done with neighbouring states for the management of discharge from dams.
A Monorail train with at least 200 passengers on board came to a halt due to apparent power failure between Mysore Colony and Bhakti Park stations in Mumbai amid heavy rains in the evening. The passengers who were rescued said panic prevailed inside the train, which runs on an elevated track, with several people complaining of suffocation as the AC system shut down.Local train services were delayed, and the public transport buses in Mumbai were diverted at a few locations due to submerged roads, as per officials. (PTI)
