India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted rainfall at isolated locations across Maharashtra on Monday, accompanied by strong winds, providing a welcome break from the torrential rains. “The weather body has forecast heavy rainfall at isolated locations for central Maharashtra, Coastal Karnataka, Konkan, and Goa,” according to an IMD forecast for Monday. Strong winds of 45-55 kmph, gusting to 60 kmph, will accompany the rains over the southwest and central Arabian Sea, according to a forecast, advising fishermen not to venture into these areas.
As the monsoon moves upwards to Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, the state can expect relief from the rain in the latter part of the week. According to the IMD’s forecast, the country will experience normal to below-normal monsoon conditions this week.
The reduced rainfall will aid relief efforts in the rain-soaked state, which were hampered last week by continuous record-breaking rainfall. In the worst floods Maharashtra has seen in decades, at least 153 people have died, 64 have gone missing, and 230,000 people have been displaced.
Due to the rains, Maharashtra’s major state and national highways have been cut off from the rest of the country for four days. On Sunday, the Mumbai-Bengaluru highway, which is partially submerged near Kolhapur, remained closed to vehicular traffic for the third day. In patches in Ratnagiri, Kolhapur, and Sindhudurg, the Kolhapur-Pune, Mumbai-Goa, and Kolhapur-Ratnagiri highways were closed until Sunday evening.
According to the district police, nearly 2,000 Karnataka-bound vehicles, including trucks, are stranded on the national highway. The highway has been closed to traffic since Friday after a section of it was submerged due to rising water levels in the district.
The Indian Army has increased relief and rescue operations in the districts of Sangli, Kohlapur, and Ratnagiri. According to a defence release, more than 80 stranded locals from the flood-affected areas of Bastwad in Kolhapur were rescued on Sunday. For ongoing flood relief operations in Maharashtra, the army also established a Central War Room for coordination between the three services.
“#OperationVarsha21–A Central War Room has been established at Department of Military Affairs for close coordination between the three Services for ongoing #FloodRelief operations in #Maharashtra,” Additional Directorate General of Public Information (ADGPI) of the Indian Army said in a tweet.
On Sunday, at least 34 self-contained National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams deployed to carry out relief operations in the flood-ravaged state evacuated 500 stranded people and rescued 44 people.
The situation in Maharashtra deteriorated after torrential rains triggered the worst floods and landslides in decades in the districts of Raigad, Ratnagiri, Palghar, Thane, Sindhudurg, Kolhapur, Sangli, and Satara on Thursday and Friday. 196,957 people have been evacuated from Sangli, while 145,930 have been taken to safe places and temporary shelters in Kolhapur.
On Sunday, rescue teams from the NDRF and the armed forces deployed in the eight districts recovered a few more bodies from the debris at landslide sites, while search operations at a few sites were called off by the evening.
