In the latest development regarding the Maharashtra tragedy, as many as 52 people have been reported dead and over 50 are still trapped in landslides reported in Raigad, Ratnagiri. The rains have continued to unleash hell on the entire Vidarbha region and has triggered landslides in the Konkan coastal regions. After the landslide, personnel of the NDRF (National Disaster Relief Force) and army men have started the search and rescue process.

Contents hide
1. Details
2. Rescue work delayed due to heavy rains
3. The On Ground Reality
4. Villagers were moved to safety, returned back before landslide
5. New alarming forecast issued by IMD

Details

On Friday, July 23, Prime Minister Narendra Modi took to twitter to condole the deaths of several Maharashtra citizens due to the landslide and flooding. Taking to Twitter, PM Modi wrote, “Anguished by the loss of lives due to a landslide in Raigad, Maharashtra. My condolences to the bereaved families. I wish the injured a speedy recovery.” Assuring authorities have a control over the situation, PM Modi further added, “The situation in Maharashtra due to heavy rains is being closely monitored and assistance is being provided to the affected.”

The Prime Minister also announced ex-gratia of Rs. 2 lakhs for those who lost their kins in the Raigad tragedy. Further, Rs. 50,000 have been promised for the injured.

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Due to the incessant rainfall, as many as 36 people are being reported dead in Raigad. The persons died in a landslide near the Raigad district’s coastal village. The landslide has triggered flooding in the coastal region of Konkan and rail and road traffic has been affected.

As many as 32 dead bodies were recovered from a spot in Talai and 4 other bodies were found from a nearby location in Sakhsutarwadi village. According to the officials, at least 30-35 people are still stuck in the debris of the landslide.

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Rescue work delayed due to heavy rains

In Raigad, 4 landslides were reported which triggered flooding and the road traffic was blocked due to the debris on the road. According to Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray the heavy rains had caused some delay in the relief work but as the water receded, the relief work has picked up pace. He also said that army, navy and air force are going to be deployed for rescue operations.

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The On Ground Reality

According to reports from the ground, rescue operation teams that comprised of locals and NDRF personnel pulled bodies of the dead from the debris. They had to do all the efforts manually as the earth-moving machinery couldn’t reach the spot which was blocked by the heavy rains and difficult terrain.

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Villagers were moved to safety, returned back before landslide

Vijay Wadettiwar, the state’s relief and rehabilitation minister, said that the villagers in the region were given a fair warning and were moved to safe locations as heavy rains were anticipated and IMD had already issued warning. But these locals moved back to the same place right before the landslide.

Meanwhile, the rescue operation could only start on Friday morning as there were visibility issues on Thursday evening right when the landslide occurred.

According to reports, 18 local relief teams were deployed to carry out the rescue work. Further, 2 teams from the Navy, 2 from the Indian Coastguard, 3 teams from the NDRF have also been deployed.

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New alarming forecast issued by IMD

As the relief work across the state of affected regions in Maharashtra continues, the new warning issued by IMD makes it seem like the state has its relief work cut out for the coming days. As per the Indian Meteorological Department’s forecast – coastal regions of Konkan, Goa and adjoining Ghat regions – will receive fairly widespread rainfall over the course of the next 2-3 days. In the subsequent days, rainfall activity will be reduced.

Meanwhile, for the state of Gujarat, widespread rainfall is forecasted till July 23 and increased rainfall activity will be witnessed from July 24. The Central India too will witness weather of the similar nature with forecast stating that isolated extremely heavy rainfalls will affect Madhya Pradesh on July 23, 24.