Maharashtra floods: Toll at 112; rescue teams hindered by inability to reach many areas

The flood situation in Maharashtra remained grim on Saturday, with thousands still waiting to be rescued to safer places, even as the official death toll climbed to 112.

The water level was rising in parts of Western Maharashtra, especially Kolhapur, Satara and Sangli, though the situation has improved in Chiplun, Raigad and Ratnagiri, as rains abated in these areas. Kolhapur has been the worst hit with almost all its main roads including the Pune-Bengaluru highway being blocked due to overflowing waters from the Panchganga River. Locals said the situation was worse than in 2019 when the entire Kolhapur was under water for more than a week.

Most of the deaths in the state occurred due to landslides, and the number is likely to go up as several villages are still cut off and no rescue or relief could reach there.


On Saturday, four more bodies were recovered from the site of Thursday evening's landslide at Talai village at Mahad in Raigad district, taking the total number of deaths there to 49. An estimated 45 people are still believed to be trapped under the debris. Chief minister Uddhav Thackeray visited the village on Saturday.

Maharashtra has reported 11 landslides in the past few days due to heavy rains. The state government said about 135,000 people were evacuated as of Saturday, while 99 were missing. An estimated 3,221 livestock also perished.

Maharashtra has sought more military personnel to be sent to the state. A team of 65 personnel has been sent to Kolhapur.

Meanwhile, Karnataka opened all the shutters of the Almatti dam on the Krishna River, on a request from the Maharashtra government as the backwaters from the reservoir reach Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara.

According to the Maharashtra government, there are around 890 villages in the state that are affected due to the heavy rains in the past week. People in many places have complained about lack of food and potable water.