Maharashtra Faces Remnants Of Cyclone Gulab, Heavy Rain & Lightning Leave 13 Dead

Heavy Rains in Maharashtra: Of these 13 deaths, 12 were reported from Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and one from North Maharashtra's Nashik district, the official said.

New Delhi: Parts of Maharashtra have been facing heavy showers, floods, and lightning which left at least 13 dead. The worse was seen in the Marathwada region and area which is considered a perennially drought-plagued area.

More than 200 cattle perished or were washed away and a number of houses were damaged in torrential rains that lashed Marathwada between Sunday and Monday. Over 560 people were rescued after the NDRF was mobilised and helicopters were deployed, officials said on Tuesday according to PTI. 

The Marathwada region in central Maharashtra which faced rain fury comprises eight districts - Aurangabad, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Jalna and Hingoli.

The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast 'extremely heavy rains' at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai and other parts of the coastal Konkan region of Maharashtra in the next 24 hours.

According to a PTI report, an official from the disaster management department said in Mumbai that 13 people have died due to heavy rains and lightning in parts of Maharashtra, while 136 others have received injuries.

Of these 13 deaths, 12 were reported from Marathwada and Vidarbha regions and one from North Maharashtra's Nashik district, the official said.

Of the 12 deaths, three were reported from the Yavatmal district (in Vidarbha where a bus was swept away), two each from Beed, Osmanabad, Parbhani (Marathwada) and one each from Jalna, Latur (Marathwada) and Buldhana (Vidarbha), he said. In Nashik district, a lightning strike killed one person and injured four others, the official said.

Heavy rainfall in catchment areas of the Manjara dam forced authorities to open all 18 gates of the reservoir to discharge water on Tuesday, which led to flooding in some villages in Beed district, while an alert was sounded in some neighbouring districts, the officials said.

The local administration opened all 18 gates of the Manjara dam and 11 gates of the Majalgaon dam, resulting in a discharge of 78,397 cusecs 80,534 cusec water from them, respectively, they said.

"Extremely heavy rains" are expected at a few places in Marathwada, Mumbai, and other parts of Konkan in the next 24 hours, the IMD said in Mumbai on Tuesday evening.

K S Hosalikar, a senior scientist at IMD Mumbai, said, the remnants of Gulab cyclone will continue to have its impact on Marathwada, Madhya Maharashtra, Konkan with few places receiving extremely heavy rainfall.

"The northern parts of Konkan and Madhya Maharashtra will receive more showers on Wednesday as well," he told PTI. 

"Extremely heavy rainfall" means precipitation of more than 204.5 mm in 24 hours.

There is a low-pressure area of the Gulab cyclone now. As it is moving towards the Arabian sea, its effect on Maharashtra will decrease from Thursday, he said.