Maharashtra rain-flood toll mounts to 192

Mumbai: The rain-flood toll in Maharashtra climbed to 192 on Monday, even as 25 more persons were not traceable till the evening and the authorities pegged the total number of people evacuated to safer places at 3,75,178.  

A day after the authorities said that 149 people were killed, the rescue and relief teams working in the various affected areas recovered 43 more bodies, taking the total n number  of people killed in the rain-flood ravaged areas in the State.

Raigad, where the district authorities called off the rescue operation and landslide-rocked Taliye, accounted for a maximum of 95 deaths, while there were 45 deaths in Satara district of western Maharashtra. The death tally in other places comprised: Ratnagiri-21, Thane-12, Kolhapur-7, Mumbai-4, Sindhdurg, Pune, Wardha and Akola-2 each.

The authorities pegged the number of injured persons at 48, while 25 persons were reported missing from various rain-flood affected areas of the State.

Calling off the rescue operation at Taliye where more than 50 persons were killed in a massive landslide on July 23, the Raigad district administration said:  “Rescue Operation officially ended. We have withdrawn our rescue teams from Taliye.31 missing to be declared dead following due process. All relatives of missing people demanded for close of operations since yesterday” 

“After seeking opinion of NDRF/SDRF/TDRF & in respect of sentiments of survivors and relatives of missing people, rescue operation of missing 31 people called off officially,” a senior Raigad district official said..

Apart from 131 boats that have been pressed into



service, as many as 33 NDRF teams and 3 Indian Army columns are still undertaking rescue and relief operations in various parts of the state.

Meanwhile, seven flood rescue teams from the the Indian Navy to continued with their efforts to provide assistance to the flood affected local population in Ratnagiri and Raigarh districts,

“More than 200 families have been provided with packaged 'ready to eat' meals in the last two days. Emergency first aid and basic medicines were also provided to the people in need. The teams also assisted citizens in clearing up the debris left by the receding flood waters in the areas,”a senior Navy official said. 

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will go on a tour of the Raigad-Ratnagiri districts for a spot-assessment of the situation on Tuesday.

State Energy Minister Dr. Nitin Raut bnegan his tour of Raigad and announced that efforts were underway to restore power supply in the affected districts.

A day after Union Minister for MSME Narayan Rane said that the Centre would extend flood relief to Maharashtra,  Leader of  Opposition in the State Assembly  Devendra  Fadnavis of the BJP asked the MVA government to extend assisrtance to all the flood-hit and also come out with a special package for the Konkan region.

With a majority of the big and small rivers, reservoirs, lakes over flowing, villages, many towns and cities remained inundated,  while scores of roads in the regions are still closed for inter-district and inter-state vehicular movement, especially hitting fuel and food supplies.