Monsoon Rains: Four more die in rain-related incidents in Maha; toll since June 1 rises to 99

Torrential downpour in several parts of Odisha due to a low-pressure area over its coast has helped the state overcome the deficit in rainfall during this monsoon, the India Meteorological Department said.

The seasonal cumulative rainfall between June 1 to July 14 was 341 mm against the average value of 345.5 mm, the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, said. During the period, six districts received excess showers, while 17 others received normal rainfall.

“Now we can say that rainfall across Odisha is normal and there is no deficit. Rainfall will continue till July 17,” H R Biswas, Director of the Meteorological Centre, Bhubaneswar, told PTI.

The IMD has also forecast heavy to very heavy rainfall at a few places in several districts, including Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Jajpur, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj and Bargarh, and heavy rainfall in Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Khurda, Puri, Boudh and Angul.

Over 900 people evacuated from houses that were inundated with water from Irai dam in Maharashtra's Chandrapur district on Thursday, an official said. Disaster management personnel conducted rescue operations at Ballarpur, Arwat, Korpana among other places in the district, he said.

The water level has increased in all reservoirs, including Irai dam, due to incessant rainfall in the district since last week. Officials have opened seven gates of the dam by a metre, the official said.

The discharge of water from Irai dam caused flooding in Rehmat Nagar, Datala, Haveli Complex, Sister Colony, Bangarwada, and low-lying areas of the city under the Chandrapur Municipal Corporation, he said.

Heavy showers lashed parts of Rajasthan with Jhalawar's Dug receiving 140 cm of rainfall till Thursday morning, officials said on Thursday.

According to the Meteorological Department, Bungra in Banswara recorded 137 mm of rainfall while Bagidora, Shergarh, Raipur, Sajjangarh and Sallopat received 98 mm, 93 mm, 91 mm, 80 mm and 79 mm, respectively, during this period.

Amid the prevailing flood-like situations in the Valsad district of Gujarat, the police and National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) have relocated at least 350 people to safer places from the low-lying areas of the district, Sub-Divisional Magistrate (SDM) Nilesh Kukadia said on Wednesday.

"Since the water level is rising here, we have appealed to the people to move on to safer places...We have also availed the people with the shelter homes facility," SDM Kukadia said. 

The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted rains for another two days across Karnataka. Coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Uttara Kannada and Udupi, that suffered heavy losses due to incessant rains, have been sounded orange alert on Thursday.

Due to heavy rains, the memorials at Hampi, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, have been inundated. The bridge near the Tungabhadra river built during the time of Vijayanagar Kingdom, Purandar Mantap, Vidhi Vidhana Mantap, Rama Lakshmana temple, Chakrathirtha bathing zone, has also been inundated at Hampi.

Eleven people were rescued from three houses after an adjoining residential structure collapsed in Maharashtra's Pune city on Thursday morning, fire brigade officials said. No one was injured in the incident, they said.

A wall of a 'wada', which did not have any occupants, crashed on an adjoining house in Kondhwa Budruk area, they said.

Wada is an old cluster of houses with many rooms.

Pune has been witnessing heavy rains since the last few days.

Heavy rainfall occurred in some parts of Rajasthan with Jhalawar’s Dug area receiving 140 cm rain, officials said on Thursday.

According to the meteorological department, Bungra in Banswara recorded 137 mm rain, while the rainfall gauged in Bagidora, Shergarh, Raipur, Sajjangarh and Sallopat was 98 mm, 93 mm, 91 mm, 80 mm and 79 mm, respectively.

Several other places recorded rainfall below 79 mm during the past 24 hours.

Heavy rains lashed several parts of Gujarat in the last 24 hours and many areas in Navsari went under knee-deep water as some rivers in the district were in spate, officials said on Thursday.

Authorities rescued 45 people stranded in Tapi and Vadodara districts in the early hours of Thursday, a state government release said.
Heavy showers have been lashing many parts of the state since the last four days.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rains during the day at several places across Gujarat, including north and south parts of the state and the Saurashtra region.

Keeping in mind the increasing water levels & security, the NH from Ahmedabad to Mumbai has been shut. We'll open the highway as soon as the water level comes down: Navsari DM Amit Prakash Yadav

Two rescue personnel, who were reported missing in a flood-hit village in Telangana's Komaram Bheem Asifabad district on Wednesday, have been found dead.

Their bodies were found near Ainam village of Dahegaon mandal in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district. They were part of a six-member team which had gone to flood-hit Bibra village to shift a pregnant woman to the hospital.

Flood flow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage near Rajamahendravaram in Andhra Pradesh rose to 15.52 lakh cusecs on Thursday morning.
As the discharge at upstream Bhadrachalam in neighbouring Telangana crossed 17 lakh cusecs, the inflow at Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage is also expected to surge by evening.

Special Chief Secretary (Revenue-Disaster Management) G Sai Prasad said the third warning signal would be issued at the Barrage by Thursday evening.

Prasad, along with Water Resources Principal Secretary Shashi Bhushan Kumar, has been monitoring the situation at the state disaster control room here.

A 50-year-old woman was injured when a portion of her house collapsed in Maharashtra's Thane district after heavy showers on Thursday morning, civic officials said.

The incident took place around 5.30 am at a chawl (tenement) in Rashid Compound of Mumbra township, Thane Municipal Corporation's regional disaster management cell (RDMC) chief Avinash Sawant said.

A part of a wall of the woman's house crashed following heavy downpour in the area, he said.

Moderate to heavy rain in the city and suburbs. Possibility of very heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at isolated places. Occasional strong winds reaching 45-55 kmph gusting to 60 kmph very likely: Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC)

More than 10 people died in various rain-related incidents since the current spell of incessant rains began in Telangana five days ago, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The rain-related incidents include walls collapsing, persons being washed away, electrocution and others. The damage due to the heavy rains is being assessed but destruction of roads has not been major, he said.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) here said extremely heavy rainfall occurred at most places in Nirmal district, at a few places in Kumram Bheem and Peddapalli districts and at isolated places in Adilabad, Jagtial, Karimnagar and other districts.

A 24-year-old youth drowned after falling into a lake near Ramtek in Maharashtra's Nagpur district on Wednesday, police said. The deceased was identified as Akshay Meshram (24), a resident of Kandri in Mansar town of the district, they said.

The incident took place around noon, when he was going to Ramtek with his friends for a picnic.

They stopped on the way to attend the nature's call. When Meshram was relieving himself, he slipped into the lake and drowned, police said.

All the schools in Pune city as well as in the neighbouring Pimpri Chinchwad area will remain closed on Thursday due to a heavy rain forecast, officials said.

Pune city and the district have been witnessing heavy downpour for the last few days and the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy rainfall on Thursday too.

A man and his teenage daughter died while two other family members were injured on Wednesday when a boulder loosened by a landslide fell on their house in Vasai city in Maharashtra's Palghar district amid rains, officials said.

Local firemen and a team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) rushed to the spot and launched a rescue operation.

"Following the landslide, a boulder from a hillock landed on the house of Anil Singh (45) at Waghralpada in Rajavali area of Vasai around 6.30 am," said District Disaster Management Cell chief Vivekanand Kadam.

With the death of four more persons in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra's Thane district on Wednesday, the toll since June 1 has gone up to 12, while more than 850 people have been moved to safer places from low-lying areas flooded due to incessant showers in the last two days, an official said.

Two of the deceased were brothers, the official said.

Chief of District Disaster Control Cell Anita Jawanjale said searches were still on for four more persons who are feared drowned in floodwaters in the district.

Latur district in Maharashtra received average 56.5 mm rainfall in the 24-hour period that ended 8 am on Wednesday, while its cumulative rainfall recorded so far this monsoon stood at 307.9 mm, officials said.

The tehsil-wise data of the total rainfall this season is as follows: Latur 282.1 mm, Ausa 196.6 mm, Ahmedpur 425.7 mm, Nilanga 210.6 mm, Udgir 399.1 mm, Chakur 370.2 mm, Renapur 298.3 mm, Deoni 301.6 mm, Shirooor-Anantpal 354.0, Jalkot 416.0 mm.

Meanwhile, the district officials have issued warnings to the people in the villages located on the banks of Manjara, Terna and Tawarja rivers to remain alert in view of the heavy rains, the officials said.