JOIN USMassive search ops under way
The Chetak helicopters of the Indian Coast Guard and Sea King choppers of the Indian Navy hovered over the Savitri river, at times at extremely low altitude, looking for survivors.
Twenty-two people are feared dead when a British-era bridge on the Mumbai-Goa highway in the Raigad district collapsed on Tuesday.
In river rafts, a National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) team sailed several kilometres up and down to look for the ill-fated buses. The telephones at control rooms at Mahad and Mumbai continued to ring.
Hundreds of people lined up by the side of the river on the Mumbai-Goa Highway to help authorities in the search and rescue operation. With intermittent rain, winds and the strong current, the rescue operation was an extremely difficult task. The search and rescue mission is being executed jointly by the Maharashtra government, navy, air force, coast guard, NDRF and the railways.
“A coast guard Chetak helicopter is carrying out search over the spot, while an IAF Mi17 helicopter undertook a search down the river. Two navy Sea King helicopters, 42B and 42C, are being used to carry divers and search,” said Commander Rahul Sinha, spokesperson, Ministry of Defence. Volunteers and adventure experts are also helping the government agencies.
“I live in this area. I travel between Raigad and Ratnagiri on a regular basis and I have been over this bridge hundreds of times...never did I think that it would go down,” said Ramesh Sawant, a resident of Mahad.
389mm rain in 24 hours
The flood in the Savitri River is a result of massive rainfall in the popular hill station of Mahabaleshwar, which is a hotspot of the Western Ghats, a World Heritage Site designated by United Nations, DHNS reports from Mumbai.
The Mahabaleshwar region received 389 mm rainfall in 24 hours ending on Tuesday and 410 mm in the next 24 hours ending on Wednesday. According to the Mumbai-based Regional Meteorological Observatory of the IMD, since June 1 this year, Mahabaleshwar has recorded 3,914 mm rainfall.