Alert issued for people on banks of Panchganga in Kolhapur

The Kolhapur district administration in western Maharashtra has asked the people living on the banks of the Panchganga river to remain alert and shift to safer locations in view of heavy rain.

The district is experiencing heavy showers for the last two days, Kolhapur Collector Daulat Desai said.

"Looking at the heavy rainfall, the Panchganga will cross the warning level (39 feet) at Rajaram Weir in Kolhapur during the night," he said.

The danger level of the river at Rajaram Weir is 43 feet.

People on the banks of the river should be alert and move to safer places with their livestock, he added.

"For the last couple of days, the district is witnessing 150 mm rainfall every day which is leading to an increase in the level of the Panchganga," he said.

He had instructed the administration and the disaster management cell to ensure treatment of critically ill Covid-19 patients from villages which are disconnected from other areas due to heavy rain, the collector said.

Around 90 weirs in the district have gone underwater, he said.