Heavy rains in Palghar; 2 washed away in flood waters

A police official said they suspect that the deceased might have slipped into the drain amid the heavy showers

Two persons were washed away in flood waters and one person was injured after a portion of his house collapsed following heavy rains in Maharashtra's Palghar district, officials said on Thursday.

At least 32 houses were also partially damaged in different talukas of Palghar due to the heavy showers, an official from the district administration said.

The district received an average 89.27 mm downpour in the 24-hour period ending at 10 am on Thursday, with Wada taluka receiving the maximum 135 mm rainfall.

A team of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was kept on alert to provide assistance whenever required, district disaster cell chief Vivekanand Kadam said.

A 51-year-old man, Ramesh Janya Goshe, from Charoti in Dahanu taluka here, was washed away in the flood waters on Thursday. The body was later recovered, an official from the district administration said.

On Wednesday, the decomposed body of a man was found in a swollen drain in in Madhuban locality of Vasai township, an official from the Vasai Virar Municipal Corporation's fire services said.

A police official said they suspect that the deceased, identified as Rahul Vishwakarma, who worked in a local factory, might have slipped into the drain amid the heavy showers and got washed away.

As per a district administration official, a portion of a house collapsed at Vasuri in Vikramgad taluka on Thursday, injuring its resident Krishna Bhauji Bhoye (60). The man has been hospitalised and is said to be stable, the official said.

District Collector Dr Manik Gursal has instructed all sub-divisional officers and tehsildars to be on alert and take necessary steps to provide assistance in the present situation.