Mumbai rains claim 32 lives

As many as 32 people have lost their lives after a thunderstorm on Sunday brought heavy rains in Mumbai and nearby regions throwing road and rail traffic out of gear. At least 19 of them died when a landslide hit a hillock in Chembur at 3 am on Sunday. The incident led to several people being trapped below the debris. The National Disaster Response Force and the Mumbai Fir Brigade were pressed to rescue. A similar incident at Vikhroli caused the death of ten people. A16-year-pld boy was killed after a retaining wall of the forest department in Bhandup collapsed.The Maharashtra government has condoled the loss of lives and announced ₹5 lakh compensation to the families of the deceased. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also announced ₹2 lakh each to the next of kin of the deceased. Maharashtra Minorities Affairs Minister Nawab Malik, Tourism Minister Aditya Thackeray and Leader of Opposition Pravin Darekar, senior civil and police officials rushed to these spots to supervise the rescue and relief operations.The thunderstorms saw even air traffic being affected as seven flights were diverted between 12 pm and 5 am on Sunday as a precautionary measure.The Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) saw the city receiving 250mm rain in three hours from 12 am to 3 am. By 7 am on Sunday, the city had recorded 305mm of rainfall. With the IMD predicting heavy rainfall in parts of Konkan, a red alert was also sent out for Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudhurg and orange for the next four days for Mumbai, Thane and Palghar.RTI activist Anil Galgali said the loss of lives in both the Chembur and Vikhroli slums could have been avoided even with the thunderstorms if the state government had followed its own plan. “In the last 29 years, 290 people have died in landslides and 300 have been injured.The Mumbai Slum Improvement Board had recommended to the state government to relocate close to 10,000 huts in the city that were at risk of such incidents but no government has acted on it,” Galgali told ET. “Such incidents are allowed to happen. The state then announces an ex gratia to the families of those who have died and everything remains the same till the next landslide.” Heavy rains also caused flooding and property damage in Thane, Navi Mumbai and Palghar too.The heavy rains have not just caused the death of people but goods worth crores have been damaged as two-wheelers have been washed away and several homes and shops, especially in the Mumbai suburbs, have been flooded destroying food grains and other goods.

from Economic Times https://ift.tt/3ezZHce