JOIN US“Two people were washed away in the floodwaters in Ragnagiri district on Thursday morning and a search is on to retrieve their bodies,” resident deputy collector Makarand Deshmukh said.
“The victims, Ganesh S Jadhav hailed from Khed town while Sambhaji B Patil was from Ratnagiri town,” he added.
Normal life was disrupted in many parts and several dams were filled almost to capacity.
All the major rivers in the Konkan region, including Savitri, Vashishth, Jagbudi, Sorad and others originating from the Western Ghats were flowing at the danger mark, posing a threat to towns and villages downstream on the western side.
“Around 50 homes have been damaged in the rain in the Ragnagiri district and reports of more destruction are coming from the interior areas and far flung villages,” Deshmukh said. Police, civil and medical officials in all the districts are in a state of high alert to tackle any emergency situation arising out in the next three days.
Meanwhile, the Mumbai-Goa National Highway was submerged at a number of places in Konkan bringing vehicular traffic to a halt. A large number of vehicles were stranded on the highway, waiting for the water to subside.
In Mumbai, train services were running late by 20-25 minutes on both the Western and Central lines. Waterlogging was reported in parts of suburban Malad, Vikhroli, Andheri, Kurla, Hindmata at Dadar, and Chembur in central Mumbai.
Other parts of Maharashtra also witnessed heavy showers with Gagan Bavada Tehsil in Kolhapur district receiving 186 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.
However, farmers were happy as many minor and major irrigation projects, which were running dry, have benefited from the rain.