At least 129 people have died in landslides, flooding
and other rain-related incidents triggered by torrential rainfall in
Maharashtra over the last two days, reports PTI. Rains have overwhelmed
hundreds of villages leaving residents stranded bereft of homes.

Rescue teams are at work trying to evacuate people
but their movement has been restricted in areas where roads and bridges have
broken down. Many people are feared missing.

Maharashtra has witnessed its heaviest spell of
July rain in the last four decades.

Of the 129 dead, 38 perished in a landslide in a
village in coastal Raigad district’s Mahad tehsil on Thursday, according to a
senior official from the state disaster management department.

Meanwhile, eight COVID patients, who were on
ventilators, died in Chiplun in Ratnagiri district of Konkan region in
Maharashtra after flood water gushed into the hospital causing the ventilators
to malfunction, The Hindu BusinessLine reported.

Most of the deaths have been reported from Raigad
and Satara districts of Maharashtra.

Apart from landslides, several people were swept
away in floodwaters.  The official death
toll in Satara district stands at 27. Landslides have been reported in Satara’s
Ambeghar and Mirgaon villages. Eight houses were buried but no deaths have been
confirmed in the two incidents so far, officials said.

The Maharashtra government has announced ex-gratia
of Rs5 lakh each to the kin of family who died in landslides triggered by heavy
rains in different parts of the state.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray
expressed grief over the loss of lives. Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that
he was “anguished by the loss of lives” and would provide assistance to those
affected.

No immediate relief appears in sight for the state
as the India Meteorological Department (IMD) has issued a red alert for six
districts — Raigad, Ratnagiri, Sindhudurg, Pune, Satara and Kolhapur —which
have already been pounded by downpour. IMD has raised an alert for “extremely
heavy” rainfall and has recommended preventive action.