Rains pound Thane, Palghar; at least three dead

Heavy rains pounded the coastal Palghar and Thane districts adjoining Mumbai during the night and on Thursday morning, causing flooding and boulder crashes and disrupting train services

At least three deaths in rain-related incidents were reported in Maharashtra's Palghar district, officials said on Thursday.

Heavy rains pounded the coastal Palghar and Thane districts adjoining Mumbai during the night and on Thursday morning, causing flooding and boulder crashes and disrupting train services. Teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) were roped in to rescue hundreds of stranded people, officials said.

Palghar District Collector Dr Manik Gursal said there were several cases of house collapse, roads and small bridges getting washed away, and boulder crash. Rama Thackeray (53), resident of Dumadpada-Kunje in Vikramgad tehsil, was washed away in a flooded stream and the body was found later. Darshana Dileep Dhutkar (50), resident of Sare Embur in Palghar tehsil, was also washed away and drowned. Gautam Shirish Dhanwa (18), resident of Maswan, died of electric shock, the collector said.

In Dahanu tehsil of Palghar district, two buffaloes died of electric shock, Gursal said. In Jawhar tehsil, Choutachiwadi-Dhanoshi-Sakur-Pathrdi-Vanganpada road caved in and a bridge on the stretch was washed away. At least 15 stranded persons were rescued at Chambarsheth. In Wada tehsil, a house collapsed in Kalamkhand. At Borande, 130 people were shifted to a Zilla Parishad (ZP) school and private houses.

At Ambiste, five families were shifted to a ZP school. Eight families were shifted to a ZP school after the Shelte lake bund breached. Three houses were damaged due to the floods following the breach, the collector said. In Mokhada, 23 houses and a school were damaged, while boulder crashes were reported at Sawarde, Chintutara and Kharegaon-Khodala.

A small bridge was washed away at Amle. In Palghar tehsil, eight houses were partly damaged, while the Manor bridge went under water. In Vasai tehsil, Umgaon-Bhatne road caved in while Shiravali-Medaphata road went under water. In Dahanu, eight houses were damaged. In Thane city, the body of Jeevan Owhal (36), who had fallen into a swollen stream on July 17, was found in Vitawa creek, an official said.

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The Thane Disaster Response Force team rescued 10 people from the Idga slum colony in Bhiwandi who were stranded in floodwater. In Bhatsai village, which is located on a hillock, stranded people could not come out and were shifted to a school in the locality, she said. A bridge at Sapgaon in Sahapur tehsil of Thane suffered extensive damage due to the heavy downpour, tehsildar (revenue officer) Nilima Suryavanshi said.

The Modak Sagar dam in Sahapur started overflowing at 3.24 am on Thursday and two of its gates were opened to release water. Some villages in the Sahapur tehsil were marooned, Suryavanshi said, adding that local authorities with the help of the NDRF rescued hundreds of people. In Vashind near Sahapur, flood waters entered a housing complex and its residents were shifted to a zilla parishad school with the help of the NDRF.

In Cherpoli, some stranded people were rescued with the help of boats. In Bhiwandi tehsil, stranded people were rescued with the help of NDRF in Padgha, Kawad, Ganesh Nagar and Khairpada, tehsildar Adik Patil said. A number of people were also rescued from flooded localities near the banks of the Kamwari river in Bhiwandi, another official said. In Badlapur Wangni, 10 people and 70 animals were rescued from an ashram.

Besides, people stranded in inundated areas of Kasara and Titwala in Thane district were also shifted to ZP schools. Thane's regional disaster management cell chief Santosh Kadam said they received 34 calls about tree fall in the city, but no one was injured in the incidents. The Nashik-Jawhar route was closed following a landslide. The administration advised people to use the Trambak-Deogaon-Khodala route.

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