TIL Desk/National/Mumbai/ At least 13 persons died in heavy showers, floods and lightning in parts of Maharashtra with the Marathwada region bearing the brunt of rain fury, while more than 560 people were rescued after the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) was mobilised and helicopters were deployed, officials said on Tuesday.
Besides, more than 200 cattle perished and a number of houses were damaged in torrential rains that lashed Marathwada on Sunday and Monday, causing havoc in a region which is considered a perennially drought-plagued area, they said. Parts of the region and Mumbai received heavy showers on Tuesday also.
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. The Marathwada region in central Maharashtra which faced rain fury comprises eight districts — Aurangabad, Latur, Osmanabad, Parbhani, Nanded, Beed, Jalna and Hingoli.
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.
