Five districts in Maharashtra are reeling under floods following heavy rains for the last five consecutive days. Several villages in Bhandara, Kolhapur, Sangli, Raigad and Gadchiroli have been isolated. Roads leading to rural Bhandara and Gadchiroli have been closed. The district administration has started shifting people living close to banks of rivers to safer places. NDRF (National Disaster Response Force) teams have been kept on alert mode.
Wainganga River is flowing above the danger mark, as Bhandara and Gadchiroli districts received heavy rains for the last four days. Bhandara’s Kardha bridge and several other small bridges were under water and closed for vehicular traffic.
All 33 gates of the Gosekhurd Project have been opened, which threatened the villages on the river banks of flooding. Kolhapur is also facing a similar situation with the Panchaganga River flowing just four meters below the danger mark of 43 feet. Traffic on Kolhapur-Ratnagiri, Kolhapur-Gaganbawda Highway has been closed. The highway towards Pune and Bengaluru has also been closed for vehicular traffic.
Life in Gadchiroli has come to a standstill. Many villages in this tribal-dominated district have been isolated. Major four national highways on Gadchiroli-Chamorshi, Gadchiroli-Nagpur, Ashti-Alapalli, and Alapalli-Bhamragad have been closed. Besides 12 roads in the district have also been closed for vehicular traffic. The district is facing a shortage of essential commodities like milk, vegetables, bread etc as the supply has been cut off.
In the Raigad district of the Konkan region, the Kundalika River is flowing above the danger mark. Villagers on the banks of the river are being shifted to safer locations. The water level in Krishna River in Sangli is also rising. The district administration is on alert mode..
Several low-lying areas of Mumbai were inundated. The local administration is engaged in pumping out water from many localities. With a small break, rains started again in Mumbai.