Hundreds die every year due to heavy rains in Mumbai

At least 75 people have died in landslides, house collapses, and other accidents at different places due to heavy rains in several districts of Maharashtra since Thursday evening.  Thousands of people have been rescued from the worst-hit Thane, Raigad, Ratnagiri, Satara, Sangli, and Kolhapur districts. In Raigad district alone, 45 people have died and 13 have been injured in different accidents. 40 people are still reported missing.

Rain in Maharashtra can be gauged from the fact that it has received 594 mm of rain in 24 hours. This is equal to the rainfall received throughout the year in Ahmednagar, Solapur, Dhule, and Sangli districts. Mahabaleshwar has received 1,078 mm of rain in the last 24 hours. At the same time, railway tracks have also been broken in many places. A Konkan Railway official said that two trains are stuck at Margaon station.

The administration has issued an alert in Sangli and Kolhapur districts. Sangli District Magistrate Abhijit Choudhary said, "Earlier 10,000 cusecs of water was being released from Koyna dam, which will now be increased to 50,000 cusecs. This will increase the water level of Krishna river. We have sounded an alert in 104 villages along the river and their People are being shifted to safer places.

BMC, one of the richest municipal corporations in the country, has been accused of mismanagement every year during the monsoon. This weekend's rains and subsequent events have given political parties an opportunity to once again accuse the BMC of "incompetence and mismanagement". 

Meanwhile, Kharghar Police in Navi Mumbai, Maharashtra, along with fire officials on Sunday evening, rescued 116 people, including 78 women and 5 children, who went to Kharghar hills by crossing a drain. The Meteorological Department has issued a warning of heavy rain for Mumbai, Thane, and Palghar on Monday.

Hundreds die every year

In its reply on July 23, 2019, the Central Government told the Lok Sabha that between July 18, 2016, and July 18, 2019, 6,585 people died due to storms, floods, and landslides accompanied by heavy rains in the country, which means an average of more than 2,000 people per year. More people lost their lives.

Heavy rains not only affect common humans but also animals. In these three years from 2016 to 2019, more than two lakh livestock died and over 39 lakh houses or huts were damaged due to rain-related natural calamities, according to government data.

Experts say that excessive rainfall and poor drainage system in a short period of time are causing frequent floods in the cities.

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