At least 18 killed in Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh as rains wreak havoc

AT least 18 people, including six children, were killed in rain-related incidents in Maharashtra, Gujarat and Madhya Pradesh while thousands were evacuated and forced to stay in shelter homes amid continued heavy rains in the states on Tuesday (12).

Heavy rains accompanied by strong winds lashed Mumbai and suburbs and also flooded many parts of the city within a couple of hours, throwing road traffic out of gear at some places.

Heavy showers occurred at isolated places in east Rajasthan while a few other parts of the state recorded light to moderate rains. Mount Abu and Pratapgarh recorded a maximum of 8 cm (centimetres) of rainfall in a day.

Showers in Delhi also brought down the mercury but caused traffic snarls and waterlogging in parts of the city where the minimum settled at 26.2 degrees Celsius, a notch below normal. According to India Meteorological Department (IMD) data, Delhi recorded 2 mm (millimetres) of rain in 24 hours till 8:30 am local time on Tuesday.

However, data from IMD showed that five districts in Delhi have reported deficient rainfall this monsoon so far due to poor distribution of rains. On average, Delhi has recorded a rainfall deficiency of 23 per cent -- gauging 90.4 mm of rains as against a normal of 116.9 mm since June 1, when the monsoon season starts.

Three children were killed and four others injured after being struck by lightning amid rains in Madhya Pradesh's Agar Malwa district. Heavy downpour covered more areas of Gujarat where six people died in rain-related incidents in the last 24 hours, raising the toll to 69 since June 1. A total of 27,896 people were evacuated from flood-affected areas and 18,225 of them remained in shelters while the others have returned home, state Disaster Management Minister Rajendra Trivedi said.

While heavy rains lashed districts in south Gujarat since the last few days, parts of Kutch and Rajkot in the Saurashtra region also witnessed heavy showers since Monday night, officials said. According to the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC), Anjar taluka in Kutch received 167 mm rainfall in six hours since 6 am on Tuesday, while Gandhidham taluka in the district got 145 mm rainfall. Narmada, Surat, Dang, Valsad and Tapi districts of south Gujarat, and Panchmahal and Chhota Udepur in central part of the state witnessed heavy rains over the last one day.

The IMD has issued a 'red alert' for heavy to very heavy rains in Valsad, Navsari, Surat, Tapi, Dang, Narmada, Chhota Udepur districts, as well as Kutch, Rajkot, Jamnagar, Devbhumi Dwarka and Morbi in the Saurashtra region till Wednesday morning. Heavy rains continued to lash parts of Maharashtra. At least nine people, including three children, died in rain-related incidents, while 95 people were evacuated from flooded places.

Thirteen teams of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and three of the State Disaster Response Force were deployed in vulnerable districts of the state, officials said. The Met department has issued a red alert of extremely heavy rains at isolated places for Nashik, Palghar, and Pune districts for the next three days. Heavy rains also forced schools and colleges to remain closed in Nashik city where people in flood-prone areas were asked to shift to safer places. Nashik city received 97.4 mm rainfall in the 24 hours till 8.30 AM on Tuesday.

Palghar district neighbouring Mumbai received 109.9 mm of rainfall in the past 24 hours ending 8:30 AM on Tuesday but there is no flooding. Thane district received 106.3 mm of rainfall in the last 24 hours ending 8:30 AM on Tuesday. Two persons were killed after a structure collapsed in a Mumbai suburb, while one person drowned in the Gadchiroli district in east Maharashtra, authorities said. Three residents of Madhya Pradesh died and as many others are missing after their vehicle was swept away from a flooded bridge amid rains in the state's Nagpur district on Tuesday.

The deceased were residents of Betul district in MP. The incessant showers affected 10 villages in Gadchiroli, Nandurbar and Mumbai suburban regions. Three minor siblings drowned in a water-filled pit in Chakan area of Maharashtra's Pune district on Tuesday. The children, in the age group of four to eight years, drowned while bathing in the pit which was dug by a farmer near their house and water had collected in it due to rains.

Four people were injured, including two critically, after a portion of a dilapidated residential structure collapsed in Pune city. The water resources department has started a discharge of water from the Gangapur dam in the Nashik district at 284.16 cusecs, following the rise in the Godavari river level. Seventy people were evacuated by authorities in Nashik district and 25 in Gadchiroli district as a precautionary measure.