Maharashtra flood situation eases, toll climbs to 192, 25 still missing

The death toll in flooded regions of Maharashtra shot up from 149 to 192 on Monday while another 25 are still missing the State Disaster Management Authority SDMA saidIn the biggest flood rescue operation in the state in decades 375178 people have been evacuated and relocated to safer areas after their homes were submerged in flood waters which was up to 20 feet high in some placesThe largest evacuation took place from western Maharashtra districts Sangli 206619 Kolhapur 150365 Satara 7530 followed by Konkan districts Thane 6930 Sindhudurg 1271 Ratnagiri 1200 and Raigad 1000 and a majority have been housed in 259 relief camps the SDMA saidAs many as 48 people injured are undergoing treatment at various hospitals in Raigad Ratnagiri Sindhudurg Sangli Satara and Kolhapur while a few victims of hillslides in Raigad have been admitted to specialised hospitals in MumbaiOn the third day of his tour of the ravaged areas Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray embarked in a helicopter to Kolhapur and Satara but was forced to cut short his trip and return to PuneThe region was again lashed by sudden heavy rains leading to poor visibility conditions which prevented landing of the chopper at the Koyna helipad said an official from the CMONevertheless Thackeray discussed the situation with the officials of the districts and ordered that emergency relief works must be carried out with provisions of food water medicines and clothes to the affected people immediately with 1028 villages directly bearing the brunt of the tragedySo far the flood waters have not subsided Even inclement weather conditions persist But relief work must be carried out with all due precautions he told the officialsDeputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar went the flooded Sangli where he hopped onto a NDRF boat to survey some of the worsthit localities of the town still submerged under several feet of waterAccompanied by Ministers Jayant Patil Vijay Wadettiwar and Vishwajeet Kadam Pawar said that in the next couple of days the CM will make the official announcement on the relief package and other measures for the floodwrecked regionsState Energy Minister Nitin Raut started on a tour of Raigad and announced that efforts are underway on a warfooting to restore power supply in the affected districtsAfter five days of the flood havoc the Raigad administration officially called off the rescue operations by the NDRF SDRF and other agencies and will follow the due procedures to declare those still missing dead an official saidHowever the rescue operations will continue in the other districts rescuing people reaching food or medicine and other aid materials to the victims said an official of the SDMAA total of 33 NDRF teams plus 131 boats and 3 Indian Army teams are still in the field helping out the floodhit people and even animals wherever possibleGovernor Bhagat Singh Koshyari will go on a tour of the Raigad and Ratnagiri districts for a spotassessment of the situation a Raj Bhavan official saidIn the past 5 days many parts of the western and coastal regions witnessed unprecedented record rainfall resulting in over a dozen hillslides and landslips in different districts with huge human tollWith a majority of the big and small rivers dams reservoirs lakes overflowing and excess waters spilling out villages towns and cities were flooded and scores of roads in the regions are still closed for interdistrict and interstate vehicular movement especially hitting fuel and foodThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever